Together We Stand
by IHeartStories
Summary: Five months have passed since the events on a beach had unfolded; Charles, Erik & Raven have all gone their separate ways. A new mutant, with telepathic powers, who is somehow connected to Charles, emerges to cause mischief & mayhem, may be the very thing to cause Erik's Brotherhood & Charles' X-Men to fight alongside each other. May all this bring two men together at last? Cherik!
1. Part 1: Prologue

**Together We Stand**

**Disclaimer:** I sincerely do not own any of these fantastic characters. I just own the plot summary and my own OC's that I had orchestrated to be apart of this story mine.

**A/N:** Just the other night, technically a few weekends past, I finally got the chance to watch X-Men: First Class. And let me just tell you. Only moments after watching First Class I fell shamelessly in love with the X-Men movie franchise once more. I ought to thank James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender for being so wondrously talented, and being fair dinkum hunks. The night after experiencing the spectacular movie, I jumped straight on to my lap top to see if their were any fanfic's and thank heavens there were. I'll gladly admit that I had also become a fan of the 'Cherik' pairing. Whether 'Cherik' were to be converted into a slash pairing, or just a pure platonic relationship. Well, let me just tell you I am in love with 'Cherik' no matter how many other writers have portrayed them to be, as they could be used either way. That is how wonderful 'Cherik' is. I am still under decided on whether or not, this story of mine will become a slash yet, so forgive me if you discover any slashy undertones in this story of mine, and I am also still deciding on what to do with Charles. Like whether not I should leave him wheelchair bound, or to merely have him walking, so please let me know if you have any concerns and that is all, please enjoy and have a wonderful day/evening/night.

**Summary:** Five months have passed since the events on a beach had unfolded; Charles, Erik and Raven have all gone their separate ways. A new mutant, with telepathic powers, who is somehow connected to Charles, emerges to cause mischief and mayhem, will be the very thing to cause Erik's Brotherhood and Charles' X-Men to fight alongside each other. May all of this bring two men closer. Cherik. Slash.

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Erik stood there not believing in what he is witnessing, he is fully aware of what he is doing will cause the humans to retaliate in ways that will involve more un-washable bloodshed and tears: but still, he is willing to accept the consequences of his actions and he will face the enemy with his head held up straight. Never again will he be submitted into the torturous ways of the humans.

True, not all humans mean mutants harm.

But he is not willing to take that risk.

He is afraid for the future of the, forever evolving, mutants. For, the few that are not yet aware of the dangers that is about to head their way.

The man on those ships, maybe as innocent, as Charles claims them to be, but they were still just following blind orders to kill their fear of the unknown. Like with most animals in the wild that are afraid. Humans are afraid of what they do not understand and they will hide behind that disgusting fear, to strike back at those, who may, or may not, mean to cause harm in the first place.

Fear is one of those funny little emotions that could even strike into the most hardened of hearts. No one on this planet is immune to fears terrifying clutches, which are drenched in an never-ending winter of ice.

And it was a mixture of fear, and anger, that had caused Erik to strike back with full intentions of destroying every living soul upon those ships, not wanting to care about, or to think, of the possibility of what their families anguish would turn out to be.

His attentions had come at an awful, heart wrenching, price – one that Erik would gladly turn back time for. How could he have known? But, _he_… should have been more attentive, more aware of what is happening behind the scenes of his murderous dream.

If he had, would that have saved the only man who Erik could proudly call: friend?

Charles.

The young telepath had burrowed his way into Erik's heart. Something of which, Erik could never have believed to be possible.

All his life, Erik had grown mistrustful of others; the fear of getting close – only to find himself being tortured again. He has been wounded terribly by others. The scars of his past are impossible to remove.

He had never even believed that it was possible to find someone willing enough to stand by his side, to listen to his past deeds and adventures.

All of that had changed the moment Charles Xavier had dived into the waters to rescue him – a complete stranger hell-bent on revenge.

Everything that Erik had told himself not to.

He had found himself doing.

His world has been flipped upside down once more.

A world that will, perhaps, always be forever changing and that is what continues to scare Erik the most. He is afraid that he will find himself being tortured, to see someone he cares about being shot dead in front of him and everything else, which has caused him to be who he is today.

Sebastian Shaw, or Klaus Schmidt, is the one that implanted these nightmarish fears in to his mind, forcing Erik to mistrust all most everyone, and everything. Believing that he was alone in this world and that no one in this world will give him sanctuary for his sins.

And yet an extraordinary young man, with the extraordinary talent of not just being able to read the minds others, or even to control said minds, but the art of understanding. Had done just that.

Though their difference in opinion is what had truly caused them to separate, Erik still finds himself referring Charles as his; friend, and he often finds himself thinking about the young telepath.

The pair of them could have done amazing things together, and they can still do those amazing things.

They are brothers in every sense of that word –

"You're doing it again?"

"Doing what again?" Erik found himself questioning the one who had dared to interrupt his thoughts.

He turned himself around to glare at Raven, who now prefers to be known as Mystique, the young woman is truly an exceptional being. Who can shift into many forms at a whim and, still carries an extraordinary amount of guilt and insecurities. He had heard her crying in the night, weeping for the brother that she had abandoned, and stranded, on a beach, not knowing that he had survived from his wound, or not.

Not one of them, or anyone else in their motley crew of mutants, has learnt of Xavier's fate, yet. Both of them have tried to forget about the telepath – with very little success.

It has now been five months since that awful day had soured what could have – what would've been a triumphant day for the mutants.

The missiles, Shaw's death and Charles being shot, is all that it took to spoil everything.

"Thinking about what could have been," Raven began to say to him. "Is not going to fix things, Erik."

"I am well aware of that," Erik growled unapologetically. "History is always being written by the mistakes of others and it will never be rewritten by a willing hand. I have seen first hand how cruel the world can be, and I have also, been one of those few dreaming about what could have been ever since I was just a lad. But, no matter how hard I tried. Nothing seemed to be willing to take that risk."

"I, too, have seen the cruelness of the world Erik, by the hands of my family. The ones who had professed to have loved me, doing what they believed would cure me," Raven said as she came to sit by Erik's side, her tears of the past glistened behind amber eyes. "I could have faced far worse if I hadn't picked up the courage to runaway. If, I hadn't have run? I would never have had met my kind-hearted brother. It was because of Charles that I was able to believe again. He had saved me, Erik -"

"Charles may have had saved you from the world of heart ache, but he did force you to hide yourself from the eyes of the same society – that he longs to be apart of," Erik cut through the young woman's speech.

"He was only doing what he believed to be right," said Raven in defense. "He had sacrificed a lot of things, just to keep my secret from being discovered – he had even kept my secret from being discovered from his own family."

"You say it like that was something to be grateful for?" Erik curiously asked, never once during the brief few months – he had never once asked Charles' about the kind of hardships, which the telepath may, or may, not have endured.

"That is not my story to tell," Raven answered quietly. "I take it that Charles had never told you about he had to endured?"

"That's because I never asked him," Erik grimly replied. "And he never said anything. He was more concerned about helping us."

"That sounds like Charles all right," Raven laughed out loud at that. "Always concerned about others, then himself. He had shown all of that on the beach. His empathy for others, I guess, will I suppose, and may always will be his greatest weakness and strength."

Erik took a deep breath, only to let it all go, as he very briefly takes a break. Taking in the silence that has now beguiled his room, which isn't really what you consider to be a room – after Azazel had teleported them away from Charles and the others. They had all found themselves hidden a way in a cave, which had once been one of Shaw's many former hideouts. The cave is located on an isolated island in the Caribbean Sea, and the cave can be found in an extinct volcano, of all places. The island is small and there are no humans, so that is big plus to them.

Azazel is the one that often comes and goes with the essentials, which they would all need to survive on their little island.

He could go on forever with his thoughts, but the silence has now become incredibly boring.

Wanting to ask Raven, a question, which he has longed to ask her during the past five months, "Do you miss him?"

Raven's amazing amber eyes latched on to his in a heartbeat, "Every damn day," she replies with all the honesty that she could muster. "How could I not, miss him? He was the first, God to be honest, person who was not afraid of me. When my family balked and harmed me, for being different from them. Charles did the complete opposite and I had loved him for that, I still do."

"Do you regret leaving him?" Erik wants to know if he is doing the right thing by keeping Raven from going back to Charles.

"The real question is do _you_ regret leaving him?" Raven deflected his question by demanding him by answering his own question. "Which you obviously do? You would not have hidden yourself in your room -"

"I, like you, Raven have been hypnotized by Charles' -"

"Charles did not hypnotized me, nor did he force me to hide my true self," Raven heatedly said to the one of the most stubborn men that she had ever met (even more stubborn than Charles). "He gave me a choice at the start of our friendship and I had chosen to stay hidden – yes, I had problems with my appearances – but this is not the kind of conversation I had come in here for, in the first place!"

"Then what was your true purpose?" Erik gladly took the opportunity to discuss something else, something of which that does not involve a certain dark-haired, withexceptionally bright blue eyes, telepath.

"To tell you that dinner is ready," Raven smiled at him, though her smile (according to Erik) did not reach her eyes.

"Is that it? Are you certain that was all that you truly came in here for?"

Erik has known for sometime that Raven had become infatuated by him, to the point of wanting to jump at the chance to sleep with him, and it was by her needing to know what it was like be accepted for who she truly was. To know that her natural blue form could be accepted as beautiful, which she truly is, she just needs to accept that fact herself.

But he would not give in to Raven's naïve innocence, as he does not love her, he cares about her in a way that one would – care about a sister. The same way that Charles does.

"I'm sorry Raven. But, I can not give you what you seek," Erik did not need for her to say the words that are on the tip of her tongue.

"Why? Is there something wrong with me -?"

"There is nothing wrong with you, Raven. You are an exceptional being -"

"Then why do you refuse -"

"Because, you're not his type, sweetie," another feminine voice leaps into their argument.

Forcing the two of them to look up, only to find Emma Frost, smiling sweetly at them – though her smile is anything but sweet.

"Oh? And I guess you are?" Raven has spent the last few months with this vile woman and she is yet to become accustomed to Emma's ways.

A telepath, Emma may be, but she is nowhere as compassionate and kind-hearted as Charles, perhaps no one could ever possibly fit that bill. Despite the hardships that Charles had endured by his own family, protecting her from his vile and cruel stepfather (he had believed that Raven had not been aware of what was happening behind closed doors, but she knew all the same).

Charles still became a compassionate being, and a workaholic too. He had worked so hard to become who he is, to prove himself, to show the world of what he had accomplished and Raven had been very proud of him, and she is, surprising, still is.

She deeply owed Erik a great debt of gratitude for interrupting her line of depressing thoughts, when he spoke to Emma. "What do you want Frost?"

"We have a situation?" Emma replied in what was attempt of being concerned.

"What kind of situation?" Erik demanded as he stood up to look the sparkly dame in the eye.

"We are not alone on this island anymore," Emma said. "There is another mutant among us."

"Do you know who this mutant is and what they want?"

Emma sickly sweet smile spread even more before she answered Erik, "You are going to love this when you hear it. But, why should I spoil the surprise when you can just ask him, yourself. He can be found with the others."

"What is it that you are trying to hide from us, Frost?" Erik dislikes it when others keep their information to themselves, as that information could bring painful intentions.

"I am trying to hide nothing from you, Magneto. I just want to keep the suspenseful disbelief to myself, until you have spoken to this funny mutant," Emma deliberately used the name Erik now prefers to be known as in the mutant community, and a name that humans will one day come to fear and hate. "I, promise you, that you'll also will find it extremely surprising."

"Why should I want to take your word? When you could just simply tell me," Erik may have rescued Emma from the CIA's clutches, but that doesn't stop him from being weary of her.

"Because my lips will remain for ever sealed," Frost smirked in response. "So, are you going to see this mutant or not?"

Erik did not reply to Emma, instead he just stormed out of his room, a place where he usually could find sanctuary and allowed to have a few private moments with his thoughts.

Thoughts of what has been and what could be are a constant in his mind. Not one of those thoughts of his nightmarish past, and of what he would like to carry out in the near future, could ever dare to be compared with his thoughts of Charles; when his thoughts stray over towards a certain blue-eyed telepath. He would sometimes find himself wanting to forgo this quest for mutant dominance, so he could be by his friend's side. There is still much to discover between them – but he will return to those particular thoughts once this meeting with this strange mutant is over.

He is curious about how this mutant had discovered this little hideout. Could this mutant be in league with the humans? Or be someone who Charles had sent – but that would be extremely out of character for the mind-reading mutant, unless Charles had changed greatly during the past five months.

Erik will never know any of things.

Not, at least, until he had faced these discoveries head on for himself.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	2. Part 2: Chapter 1

**Together We Stand**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

The last thing that Erik could remember, before his vision had blacked out, was seeing a pair of exceptionally bright blue orbs, swathed in a halo of blue and gold, and the rest has now become nothing more than a distant memory – or just being morphed in to a dream.

Erik remembers that there had been a mutant coming into his hideout, demanding – that he, Erik and the rest of his team, should join his cause.

A dark dangerous cause is now taking shape among the mutant community. Being formed by a mutant that seeks dominion over everything, and everyone. And that, it was not the lives of the humans that are at stake here, but the lives of mutants as well.

Any mutant that refuses to take a part in this dark cause will be killed.

Erik had told the mutant, whose name has now become lost to him, who had visited him – a straight out, big no. He doesn't fully understand why he had declined the offer, he just did. Everything about the mutants' proposal reeked with the smell of something sinister, and Erik was not going to follow the footsteps that will doom them all.

What Erik does remember about the mutant, was the way the man dressed entirely in black clothing and the way insanity dance behind demonic-like eyes. There had been something about the man who had reminded the metal-bender of someone and that someone's name never came to the tip of his tongue, but the name was there somewhere.

Everything became sour afterwards and not one of them had been prepared for the onslaught that had been unleashed upon them all, only Emma had been untouched. She had stood there smirking that disgustingly sweet smile of hers and she did nothing to aid them.

Erik had tried his hardest to fight back the onslaught but the battle was not a physical one. The battle targeting his mind and he highly suspects that Emma had a part to play.

All of his worst memories and nightmares, everything that he had never been able to forget, had been tearing their way through his mind and then everything came to a stand still.

That was all that Erik could remember.

Cautiously opening his eyes, to get a good look of his whereabouts, the moment he had become aware of lying upon a soft warm bed. He turned his head, with his right cheek pressing into the delicate softness that only a pillow could offer, to the side.

Taking in his surroundings and taking full notes of what he has discovered so far, fighting back the urge to leap out of the bed had become great the second his eyes had zoned in – focusing on a figure sitting upon an armchair, which had been precariously placed by his bed side.

He did not know what to make of this – is he truly willing to believe in what he is seeing with his own two eyes? Erik could not comprehend it all. He had never believed that it would have been possible to name all the emotions trampling through his body.

"Charles?" Erik's voice came out in a croaky sound.

"Erik," the blue-eyed man replied in a very, patient, like tone.

Erik finally managed to bring himself to sit up in bed, so that he could look at Charles properly. With his view no longer obscured – his eyes danced across the telepath.

"Is this a dream? Or is it all happening inside my head?" Erik had no idea why he had started their conversation this way; he just did with out thinking.

"This is not a dream, Erik. What you are seeing is too real be just a dream," Charles calming said. "Unless you want it be."

"How long have I been unconscious for?" Erik asked after a few minutes of silence had passed between them.

"You've been unconscious for two days now," Charles said in a reply. "There had been a few moments when we had thought that you weren't going awaken. You were lucky that my team and I, had arrived – or we wouldn't be able to have this conversation."

Erik rubbed a weary hand against his brow, as though it would be able to wipe away the fearful fog from his mind – before returning his full attention upon the man, whom he had feared to have died on that dreadful beach. Never believing that he would be able to see Charles ever again.

His eyes followed Charles' movement, as the latter stood up, his blue-eyes were full of hidden understanding, anguish and sorrow. Behind the blue eyes of Charles – were empty. Erik could not detect a single trace of the telepath, whom he had left bleeding, holding on a small thread of hope for survival.

"Do not concern yourself about me," Charles quietly said to Erik. "Erik it was five months ago. If you could learn the art of letting go? You may just be able to find some peace within yourself, and with luck – happiness -"

"Are you going to follow your own advice?" Erik cut of the mind reader's tirade.

A small smile graced Charles' comely features, "I know that it would be pointless of me to ask you, to get back to sleep – when you will do the exact opposite. So, I will simply ask that you will get yourself dressed before pillaging my kitchen."

Erik was just about to say something when the telepath spoke up once more.

"Erik, I promise that I will answer all of your questions – well the ones that I will have the answers for," Charles said. "Eat first. Then, when you're ready, come to my study."

"First, could you tell me if Raven and the others are all right?" Erik asked Charles.

The telepath's hand had just only grazed the door handle, before Charles' turned his sympathetic-gaze back towards Erik. There was something hidden deep inside the telepath and that something was troubling the slightly younger man, and it was because of that single look.

That Erik began to feel the unsympathetically cold touch of dread, taking hold of his entire being and he knew the instant that Charles speaks – that he is not going to like it one bit.

"Erik… forgive me, my friend," Charles grimly says. His blue-eyes were glistening in tears of guilt. "But we were unable to save the others…"

* * *

_To Be Continued…_

* * *

**A/N:** So? Tell me what you all think about this latest development. The next update will be coming your way soon – maybe sometime next week. Can you all hold on to your horses until then? Or, would you all be very grateful for me to be merciful? I do hope that you will all forgive me for having this chapter shortened and I do hope that you will all have a wonderful day.

**A/N 2:** As, some of you are now fully aware, this story of mine, which I have tried so hard not to do, has now been converted into a fair dinkum slash fic. No matter where I was trying to take this story, it all headed towards a smooch attack of some kind between Erik and Charles. I do not have a beta reader, nor am I an expert in the X-Men universe, I only know what I have seen in the movies and what info I have gathered from the internet, so please forgive me if you discover something that does not make sense, or if there is a major gramma mistake that I forgotten to fix. I would also like to thank every one of you that had taken their spare time to read my story; it really makes me happy to know there are some out there that appreciates my story in some way.


	3. Part 3: Chapter 2

**A/N:** I would like to say thank you my beta reader, _**icanhearthedrums**_, for being so wonderful. I am truly thankful for her delightful aid in helping this latest chapter of mine flow. I also would like to dedicate some of my thanks to those who have been so gracious as to review the last chapter I had uploaded. And may I, be so bold, as to ask you to keep an eye out on some clues. These clues will become very handy, for when the sequel, I have planned, comes out. That is all I will say for now. Hope you all have a great day, or night.

**Previously on Together We Stand:**

"_Firstly, could you tell me if Raven and the others are all right?" Erik asked Charles._

_The telepath's hand had just only grazed the door handle, before Charles turned his sympathetic-gaze back towards Erik. There was something hidden deep inside the telepath that was troubling the slightly younger man, and it was because of that single look._

_That was when Erik had first begun to feel the unsympathetically cold touch of dread, taking hold of his entire being and he knew the instant that Charles speaks – that he is not going to like it one bit._

"_Erik… forgive me, my friend," Charles grimly says. His blue-eyes were glistening with tears of guilt. "But we were unable to save the others…"_

**Chapter 2:**

"What do you mean by that? By not being able to save the others?" Erik asked in a very clear tone of voice. Not sounding very happy about this turn of events.

"What I mean Erik, is that we, as in my team and I, were unable to save Raven and the others – because there was nothing to save." Charles cautiously replied to his one time friend. "Erik, I promise you that I will explain everything to you – but you still need to rest to regain your strength." Charles wants to tell Erik everything, he truly does, but he isn't comfortable spending more time with the man who had left him for dead on an inescapable beach yet.

"I can rest later. May even be able to sleep better if you were to tell me now, rather than later." Erik demands some answers. "I would very much prefer that way."

Charles had been delighted, and half-dreading, to see Erik's memorable blue-green eyes. It often reminded the telepath of the sea after a fierce storm, flatter open. He was delighted because he has not had the pleasure of seeing those eyes for five whole months. He was half-dreading, because of the remembrance of what had passed between them. During the months, which have now since passed, Charles has never been able to wipe out the memories he and Erik had once shared.

Their difference in opinions and in other matters concerning humans was always going to be the leading factor behind their separation. Charles had always some how knew that one day, that he and Erik must separate – he just was not prepared for how their separation came to pass.

Anyways, he will return to those thoughts about what had occurred five months ago the pain, the anger, and all of those other emotions and feelings, the moment he could find a chance to do so.

For he should now be focusing solely upon explaining about what had happened to Raven and the others. His heart aches for not being able to arrive in time to save the others.

He was well aware that it would be useless to keep Erik in the dark, or simply just tell the metal-bender to get some rest. He knows full well just how stubborn the other man can be.

So, Charles carefully began the difficult task of choosing the right words, knowing full well that no matter what he will say – Erik will not like it.

"Very well then," Charles said. He slowly made his way to return to the chair, where he had once sat only a few moments ago. "I can only tell you that I do know what had transpired between you and Ingham -"

"Ingham? I vaguely remember that name," Erik surprisingly said, as the name Ingham found its way through the scattered pieces of his memory – well the ones that he is only just now trying to recall.

"What is the last thing that you remember?" Asked Charles.

"The last thing I can recall is having a discussion with Raven. Emma had come in to tell me that there was visitor wanting to see us all and then there was this agony - that is all that I can remember," Erik swung his legs over to the side of bed, so he could observe Charles properly.

The need to look into the eyes of the man he had feared lost; Erik is astounded by how blue those eyes are, as always.

"What do you know about this Ingham? How did he come on to your radar?" Erik really wants know more about his team's fate.

Charles felt torn about telling Erik the truth about Ingham. He has carried this secret ever since he had discovered the truth about Ingham – and well, Charles is still trying to wrap his head around it.

He had never forgotten Benjamin… but how could he? How could anyone forget about one's family? He will never forget that awful day. He never has. He has slept through so many nights believing that Benjamin will hopefully return home but Charles does not blame his brother (oh, you have heard that correctly and it is all true) for running away. To escape from their abusive stepfather is something that even Charles had dreamt of doing – but he could not. He could not bear the thought of abandoning his mother, or even leave without Raven, to Kurt's cruel ways.

He was not even able to find the will to abandon his family home to Kurt's greedy hands, as it was not Markos' house to start of with. He had been too frightened.

Charles mentally shook his head so that he could concentrate fully upon what to say to Erik – debating on whether or not he should tell the truth. It is, after all, his secret to bear and it can remain so until he is ready to tell someone.

Besides, he must also place all of his efforts into finding Raven and the others. He does not mind the fact that a few of Erik's followers were once in the service of Sebastian Shaw. The first real test will lie firmly in Hank, Alex and Sean's hands.

All three of them have been loyal to him without a fault, and they did not leave him to heal from his wounds alone. They did not even leave when he had ordered them to. While Charles wanted to wallow in self-pity, sinking into the black depths of despair, and to cling on to a small ray of hope.

That hope, which Charles was secretly holding on to, was that he did not truly want to be left alone and it was because of three young men unyieldingly stood by his side every step of the way. He did not want to deal with the possibly of treating his gunshot wound on his own, Charles had been very lucky that day, as lucky as a guy who got shot in the back can be.

The two people whom Charles would have gladly given his life for had still abandoned him. He would die for anyone, but to die to save his two best friends: Erik and Raven, would have been a sacrifice he was willing to contribute. And that sense of abandonment and betrayal stung more then the gunshot wound.

"A month ago is when Ingham, first came onto our radar," Charles wanted to wash out his mouth with soap but it was already too late. "And we have been following him ever since. We had followed his path to your hide out just a little too late. Ingham must have done something to cause the others to vanish with him before our untimely arrival."

"You're not going to tell me how this Ingham had crossed paths with you, or why it was that you wanted to find him. Are you?" Erik asked the first question that popped inside his head. He was trying to process every single detail that Charles is telling him, or not telling him.

"I do not have to explain everything to you, Erik!" Charles exclaimed he was growing very tired and sore – though they are not the main attributes as to why he snapped at Erik.

Erik had never once, during the short few months that he and Charles had spent together, seen the telepath lose his cool. The telepath has one of the most patient minds that the metal-bender had ever come across and that was one of the few reasons why Erik had begun to trust Charles in the first place.

The young telepath has this amazing quality about him that could draw anyone towards him or be extremely loyal. He had seen the loyalty that Hank and the other boys felt towards Charles. That is why Erik had not asked the three to join his noble cause. Erik, himself had felt extremely torn. He wanted to be there by his friend's side just a little while longer, or even to get Charles to the hospital – but he didn't. He had become rapidly glued to his newfound cause and purpose.

He did not lie. Erik had truly wanted Charles to be on his side, but the telepath refused. The things that the two of them could achieve together will now just be another distant dream. There could still be hope for them, just not now.

The forbidden feelings that had awakened inside of him have yet to leave him alone. These strange new feelings felt all that much stronger when he saw Charles fall into the sand, with one hand clasping blindly upon his side. His hatred for Moira, and the hatred of feeling hopelessness, were amongst the feelings that were partying inside him.

Moira MacTaggert may have been one of the humans that Erik grudgingly grew to like, but that had never stopped Erik from being weary around her. He had seen the way she watched Charles with such disgusting longing and admiration – he did not blame her for feeling that way towards the telepath, for he too was beginning feel confused. He is still trying to figure out these feelings and where they come from, or even how they came to be.

There was, or is, something that Charles has chosen to hide from him and that something must be connected to this Ingham fellow.

"Fine." Erik finally found something to say and it was the first thing that he could think of. "Could you at least explain what happened to me?"

"That I can do," Charles said. "I had found you cowering on your knees, with your hands clasping your head – almost as though you were trying claw your way inside – and you looked as if you were in agony. That was the sign of a mental attack – one that only a telepath could muster."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that Ingham is a telepath?"

"That is correct," Charles replied calmly.

"What he did to me? Is it something that you can do as well?" Erik is both intrigued and terrified to know just what Charles could be capable of doing.

"I can but I won't. The mind isn't something to play with. It is too extraordinary and precious. There are so many things that could go wrong and the ones to pay the price – are the ones, whose minds are being played with-as though it is nothing more than a toy." Charles explained to Erik. "What Ingham was trying to do to you could have killed you, Erik."

"But it didn't kill me," Erik once again owed Charles for saving his life, at a time when he had least expected to be saved. "Could it be entirely possible for Ingham having anything do with my team's disappearance?"

"That is what I am beginning to believe." Charles answered. "I am doing all that I can to locate Raven and the others. The bond that Raven and I have is yet to be broken. It will be through that bond that I will try to reach Raven with and I am fairly certain that wherever she is, the others will be there as well. Once I find them, my team and I will be on our way to help them and to bring them all back here to recuperate."

Erik could only offer Charles a small smile, in a way of thanks. To his amazement, the telepath gave him a smile in return.

"Get some rest Erik. Your mind is still healing from the trauma that Ingham had inflicted up on you and sleep will be the best thing for it to heal." Charles gingerly stood up to his feet, feeling his body protesting and cursing along way.

His side is still healing. The wound may have closed a few months back, but his side still protests. Hank had told him to take it easy and that the pain will go away eventually, while Charles on the other hand believes otherwise.

"Are you all right?" Erik must have heard the wincing gasp, exhaling from his lips.

"I am fine." came Charles' reply.

Before Erik could quiz him further, "Erik," Charles wearily said to his friend, "We can play catch up later when you feel better."

"I think I will pass on the sleep and pillage your kitchen." Erik said with a smile.

His smile vanished the moment Erik had captured the way his friend's eyes had this look of concentration and concern, as though something else had captured his attention. Erik quickly noticed the tell tale sign Charles has whenever he is using his telepathy.

"Charles?" Erik stood up. Something that he had not noticed until now was how he was wearing practically nothing underneath the bed sheets, only pants. "What is it?"

"I know where Raven and the others are." Charles instantaneously replied.

His left hand, no longer touching his temple, fell to his side. Before Erik could say anything more, Charles left the room leaving Erik alone to find a shirt. He did not want anyone to see the dreadful scars that mar his body.


	4. Part 4: Chapter 3

**A/N: **A mighty thanks to my wonderful beta,**_ icanhearthedrums_**, she is truly fantastic. In the next chapter, I will let you all know, is where I will explain a few things that you may be curious to learn. I will not give much a way. In case, you have noticed, I have Charles walking and not spinning the wheels, of a wheelchair. The reasoning behind this is that I felt that a walking Charles is needed for this story and I will do best to explain how he is able to walk. I am no doctor and this fiction. I do not always allow reality get in the way of a good story. Do not hesitate to tell me what you think? This is still a slash a fic, so if you do not like, do not read. Have a wonderful day.

**Chapter 3:**

Erik silently followed the footsteps that were being planted by five men dressed in blue and gold suits. He knew full well that his footprints are unwelcome - his very presence was not welcome, but they are willing to tolerate him for the time being. Erik has only been acknowledged by the few glances thrown in his unwanted direction. Though he may be unwelcome, Erik still found himself following Charles and his X-Men.

He follows them because he wants to be there when they rescue his Brotherhood and to prove himself worthy in the eyes of the X-Men. Erik does not know why it is necessary to prove himself, when he has full intentions on returning to the cause – he just wants to.

Erik had heard Hank, Alex, Sean and the newest mutant found by Charles, Adam Rodgers, protesting at the sheer idiocy of the idea to allow the metal-bender to tag along. They did not agree with the way their Professor had accepted Erik's help so readily.

Hank, Alex, and Sean have not forgotten what transpired on that little beach nor the way he had abandoned them, leaving them to find their own way off the beach. Erik was the one that had left them behind with no way to get Charles to a hospital – they obviously did manage to find a way off that island but that did not help any matters.

Erik had noticed the way Charles would occasionally rub a hand against his back, as though he was attempting to rub an invisible pain a way. A pain that only the telepath can feel. On top of that, there has been this strange feeling that is beginning to fester inside of him - a feeling Erik is not too sure what to make of.

This strange sensation encouraged him to be the one to chase the telepath's pain and nightmares away, to help his friend dream again – it was basically telling him things that Erik already knew. He was aware of this emotion back on the beach, when he held his friend in his arms and still Erik had chosen to ignore it.

His feet came to a halt without him realising it.

Erik glanced towards where Charles now stood, with his left hand touching his temple, seeing things that the others can't see. He glanced away to take a good look at the facility Raven and others could be found.

The building is non-descriptive and uninspiring, yet its look is deceiving to those who stumble across it. The facility appeared to be a one-story high building on the outside. What it would look like on the inside – well they were all about to find out.

"That has to be the most ugliest building I have ever seen." came Adam Rodgers' sly comment.

"That may be so." Hank wearily said to their newest member.

From what Erik had been able to learn about Adam Rodgers is that he is a teleporter and that he likes to try to be the funny one in the group. Erik does not know what it is, but he cannot bring himself to trust Adam.

Then again, he does not see the things that Charles can. The telepath can see the good in everybody and Erik had been one of those that Charles believed he could help.

Charles was the first person to believe in Erik, the only one to see the goodness – the goodness that even Erik had been blind to for so long.

"Hi, I don't believe we were properly introduced," Adam's irritating voice ecstatically shoved its way through Erik's thoughts.

He came to stand closer to Erik. The young man's face was covered in freckles, with flame-coloured hair (his hair was redder then Sean's curly locks), framing his angular face. A pair of green eyes, flecked with gold, shone bright with curiosity.

"And what do they call you? Apple?" Erik teasingly asked Adam in an irritated tone of voice.

"Why would they call me 'Apple'?" Adam tilted his head back to the right, with his left index touching his mouth, as he tried to figure out why Erik would say what he did.

"Don't mind Magneto, Adam. It would do you well if you were to just ignore him." Alex glaringly advised Adam, shooting looks that could split a tree apart. Erik stood his ground.

He glanced away from the four boys, only to find his eyes locking on to a certain telepath's. Erik could not make much of what Charles could be saying behind those blue eyes of his and, surprisingly, the metal bender did not care. Not at this particular moment anyways.

He does care about wanting to know how much of their scattered friendship could be recovered, he does not know why. He just feels as though fixing what has been broken between he and Charles is more important than his cause of seeking mutation dominance over humans.

Spending time with the telepath was an experience well treasured.

If Charles were to read his mind at this very moment, would he get a glimpse of what Erik is thinking? And of the feelings that the telepath alone is responsible for. Never before has the metal-bender felt these foreign emotions, he could only hope that the man he still considers to be a friend would be able to decipher these emotions.

"Right, we had best be split into pairs," Charles spoke as though the tension arising between Erik and his X-Men did not bother him in the slightest. "Raven and the others have all been placed in separate cells. I cannot see if Ingham is inside the facility, but that does not mean that he isn't. So, I would suggest that you all should keep an eye out for any signs of trouble."

Charles paused, allowing the others to ponder on what he had just spoken, and his eyes once again sought out Erik's unique blue-green ones. He calls them unique because of the way they occasionally appear blue with flecks of grey or green. And ever since he had first met the metal-bender, the telepath felt intrigued.

He did not shy away from the haunting memories which have caused Erik to be the way he is, no thanks to Shaw, nor did Charles run when he had felt his agony. Instead he believed that Erik could become something more and, surprisingly, still does firmly believe that his former friend could become a better man. He still feels the need to catch the metal-bender's fall, to show the man that there truly is something more than pain and anger. To show him that he is not alone, no matter where their paths may take them.

But he will return to such thoughts once he knows that Raven is safe.

"Hank, you and Sean will enter through the side entrance. Alex, Adam, I would like for you to enter through the back. Erik and I will take care of the front entrance." Charles had decided that it would be best if he were to team himself up with Erik, as he is quite aware that it would be a bad idea to have one of the others team up with someone they don't trust. "Be mindful of the guards that you may encounter. I will be able to conceal our movements from them until we are gone so there will be no need to fight our way through."

"What if Ingham is in there? Will he be able -"

"Ingham is a talented telepath," Charles has yet to tell his team about Ingham's true identity, he wants to, but he just cannot find it within himself to bring up the topic concerning his long-lost brother, Benjamin. "After seeing what he had tried to with Sean and with Erik."

"What did Ingham try to do with Sean, Charles?" Erik asked. He caught sight of a slight shadow behind the telepath's eyes and the urge to comfort him had to be squashed.

"The same thing that he'd tried to do with you, coercing you to revisit your deepest fears." Charles politely replied. "We can discuss more about Ingham once we have rescued the others."

"Then let us be off," Erik said as he felt a drop of rain splatter on top of his sandy-coloured hair. "Unless you all desire to become wet as a dog."

"But I like dogs," Adam said out of the blue, without thinking, obviously. "And why can't I just pop in there -"

"Because that would be an incredibly stupid thing to do." Erik told the young man, disliking Adam even more by the way the lad speaks without thinking.

"**_Do not let appearances fool you Erik, there is more to Adam than what is on the surface."_** Charles warns Erik telepathically. **_"He is young and brash. He still has much to learn."_**

"**_Young and brash he may be, Charles – but that does not help ease the feeling of mistrust."_** Erik sent back. **_"I do not welcome people with open arms so easily, you should know that by now."_**

"Erik is right, Adam. To rush in there may not create the result you were hoping for." Charles gently said to Adam. "We work better as a team. If the situation calls for it, I'll let you know when you can teleport us out."

"Speaking of teleports, it is odd that Azazel has not made an attempt to escape." Erik curiously stated out loud.

"And we should care because?"

"Alex!" Charles called out. He is well aware of what Alex and the others now felt towards the other team. They all voiced their dislike and disgust the moment he told them of Erik joining them on the rescue mission.

"Now is not the time," Charles managed to say a few seconds later. "From what I was able to learn, about Raven and the others' situation, is that Ingham has put them all in a comatose state. Frost has also been under Ingham's spell."

"Can you undo what Ingham has done to them, Professor?" Hank asked before Erik could get the chance.

"I can. But if I were to do that immediately, I will need to place my full concentration on waking them individually as well as keeping up the concealment that I will have placed on the guards. This will most likely take a lot of my energy and I will become extremely vulnerable." Charles tells them all. "But if we were to take them back to the mansion with us, I will be able to undo Ingham's work there without the possibility of an attack on my person."

"Are you sure that it would be wise to invite Shaw's former group." Sean asked.

"Whether they were once under the service of Shaw does not mean that we should turn them away when they are in need of our aid. What they did is in the past and there it all should lay," Charles said before Sean could carry on. "Whether it is wise or not should not be the biggest concern at this time."

The rain began to fall more urgently from the skies above almost taking Erik back to that dreadful day; forcing Erik to think over what Charles had just told them.

Once again he was reminded of just how compassionate Charles Xavier truly is...It is truly heart warming.

"But can we trust them, Professor?" Hank quietly asks.

"I'm not going to ask you to trust them. Whether you allow yourself to trust them or not is a choice for you to make," Charles replied wearily. "But I will ask you to trust me."

"I do not mind having a conversation every now and then, but would it be all right if I were to suggest that we get going?" Erik doesn't hate the rain, it is a beautiful thing, but it does have this tendency to drag back up the memories that he would like to leave buried.

"The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can all exchange pleasantries." Erik said before anyone else could.

"Why are you so afraid to get your hair wet?" Adam said with out thinking. "It is only water, it will wash off."

"Don't you mean dry off?" Sean drolly asked him.

"No, wash off sounds better now that I think about it," Adam enthusiastically replied.

"Right, lets go." Charles commended them to do.

Erik had this crazy idea about blurting out to Charles how adorable he looks with his wet hair curling around his handsome face. He quickly caught himself, hoping that a certain bright blue-eyed telepath doesn't read his mind. Especially not when he is still figuring out the source of these spontaneous actions and thoughts.

"**_Erik, you're not alone."_**

"**_Not alone? What are you talking about Charles?"_**

He waited for Charles to reply back to him, but the telepath did not. He had been startled by the telepath suddenly speaking to him inside his mind and this left him even more confused.

Confused by what Charles had meant by not being alone.


	5. Part 5: Chapter 4

**A/N:** I would very much like to thank my wonderful beta once more for her generous help. This chapter was a tough one to write for some strange reason, and it would have been stuck on it for ages if it weren't for **icanhearthedrums'** wonderful aid. I look forward to hear about what you'd like to say, any criticism will be greatly appreciated as well, so do not hesitate to tell me. Have a wonderful day my friends.

A little extra side note about the telepathic speak that Charles, Ingham and Emma Frost will have with others, will be in _**bold/italic**_.

**Chapter 4:**

_**"Erik, you're not alone."**_

Erik has been pondering that statement for too long. He should really be focusing on keeping up with the man who was the center of his attention. What did Charles mean by those words? They were the same words that the telepath had said to him on that extraordinary night.

The night that had changed Erik's world is the same night a blue-eyed telepath dove into his life, literally.

Ever since then, Erik's life has not been the same and it was all thanks to Charles Xavier. Charles, who had risked his own life just to save his.

"You still haven't answered my question, Charles." Erik needed to say something before his thoughts shoved him back down that path.

"And what was the question again?" Charles asked him as they reached the front entrance.

The others had long since departed for their respective entrances. They were none too happy with the idea of leaving their precious Professor with someone they avidly distrusted.

Erik does not know why, but he feels saddened by this. Sad because the boys had once trusted him, at least as much as you can trust a Nazi-hunter. They were almost like a dysfunctional family, and they would have been so much more if Erik had not torn their family apart with his actions.

"Does 'Erik, you're not alone' ring any bells?" Erik dryly threw to his companion.

"No, but I am sure the bells are playing a lovely tune inside my head." Charles replied with playful humour.

"I am sure they are," Erik smirked at the slightly smaller man. "It's not too late for you to change your mind, Charles."

"Not too late for what?" Charles is fully aware of what Erik is trying to discuss right now, and quite truthfully, now isn't the time.

"To join my cause once we have freed my Brotherhood. I wasn't lying when I said that I want you by my side."

"I know you weren't, Erik." Charles paused in his step to turn sideways and look at his friend properly. "The path that you seek to achieve your goal by causing humans ill, is not a path I will partake in. I am sorry, Erik, but now is not the time to discuss such matters."

He turned back to face the door, which Erik had graciously unlocked for them. Walking inside the hallway, guards were standing idly by, blissfully unaware of the mutants entering through their main entrances.

_**"Can the guards see us?"**_Erik sent telepathically through their bond, which was amazingly still in tack. Erik should have realized by now that the right way to start a conversation with Charles, was not by bringing up the subject concerning his noble cause.

His noble cause, as he calls it, is the very thing that had caused their friendship to fall apart in the first place. They both have dreams concerning their kind and how they dream of achieving their goals, but they are far from the same.

While one dreams of achieving their goals through peaceful means, the other seeks to achieve it through bloodshed. Erik doesn't want violence to be the solution, but it is the only option he knows. Is there another way? Would anyone be willing to show him how?

_**"We are all invisible to them." **_Charles was explaining to him while he had stumbled back into his thoughts. _**"I'm sorry, am I boring you."  
**_  
Erik heard the humor hidden behind the telepath's words. _**"No. I was just lost in thought."  
**_  
_**"So it would seem,"**_ said Charles, as he continued silently walking down the winding corridors. _**"Is there anything else you would like to talk about?"  
**_  
_**"There are many things that we need to talk about,"**_ and one of them was Erik's awakening emotions and feelings for his favourite telepath. _**"But we can discuss other matters first. Such as how you managed to discover where Ingham is holding Raven and the others."**_

_**"I found Raven through that bond I mentioned to you earlier."**_ Charles explained to Erik. _**"It must have been before Ingham's induced coma had taken its full effect. I heard Raven crying out for help and it was through her cries that I discovered where she is being held. It is also how I was able to locate the rest of your Brotherhood. I could go into much better detail by describing it all to you, but the explanation is long and time may be growing short for the others."  
**_  
_**"How much longer will you be able to keep this concealment thing of yours going for?"**_

_**"Concealment thing? That's a new way to describe it." **_Charles amusingly said, laughing softly through their connection.

Erik thought that Charles' laugh was one of the most beautiful things he could ever hear. He would never grow tired of hearing it.

_**"Hank and Sean have found Janos and Frost."**_ Charles slowed down to concentrate on finding this new event. _**"They are now making their way back to the rendezvous point."**_

_**"**__**What of the other two, Alex and Apple, have they found anyone?"**_ Erik asked the telepath through their bond.

_**"**__**How did you come up with name for Adam to be Apple, Erik?"**_ Charles forehead furrowed with curiosity.

_**"**__**The name just came to me."**_ Erik shrugged as he stepped around a guard. **_"What would happen if one of us accidentally bumped into a guard?"_**

_**"**__**I would have to work incredibly fast to improvise with my concealment thing."**_ Charles explained honestly. He watched Erik continuously, making his way around the guards through his mind's eye. _**"As to your earlier question regarding Alex and Adam, they are making their way back to rendezvous point with Azazel and Angel. It is we, who are lagging behind."**_

_**"**__**Then we had best cease talking and find Raven before the others fret about your safety. They do not trust me enough to believe I will protect you."**_ Erik solemnly stated through their link.

He had missed the long nights that he and Charles would have, sharing their hopes and dreams and getting to know each other. Despite Charles already knowing everything about the metal-bender, the telepath, intriguingly, always wanted to learn more about his mysterious companion. In turn, Erik wanted to know everything about the telepath.

_**"**__**Can you honestly blame them, Erik? They once looked up to you for guidance. It wasn't just me they had wanted to help teach them with their powers. You were like a big brother to them."**_ Charles paused once more. This time so he could look his former friend in the eye, his back faced the door that will lead them into the cell in which Raven was being held against her will. _**"They are also fully aware that you'll be planning on leaving again once this mission has been completed. They're just protecting themselves from further heartache."**_

_**"And w**__**hat of you, Charles? Do I still have your trust?"**_ Erik somberly asked the bright-eyed telepath. He was quite nervous about the answer. Charles' trust in him has been, and still is, extremely important to him. He would not blame the telepath for being wary of him after all he had done – he is no longer worthy to be a recipient of Charles' unshakable trust.

_**"**__**No,"**_ came Charles' short and agonizing reply.

The simple reply cut Erik more deeply than the wounds Shaw had inflicted upon his body. He did not know whether to lash out in anger or weep. His entire world has once again been turned upside down and there is no one to show Erik how to put it right.

_**"Erik -"**_ Charles began to say inside the metal-bender's mind.

But Erik did not allow the telepath to say anything more. His brain did not even tell him that his body moved because the next moment, he was astonished to find that he was kissing the beautiful blue-eyed telepath. It was as if someone else was controlling his mind and his body.

Never before had he kissed another man. Occasionally, Erik required the company of a woman in his bed, but this... this was something entirely new. The women that Erik had slept with were only for primal and lustful reasons. A need to feel alive, to know that he is still a man. He had never even thought of the possibly of finding love and it would appear that he has found exactly that – found it in this delightfully kind and irritatingly polite Charles Xavier.

Coming back to his senses, Erik willed himself to let his telepathic friend go. Reminding himself that they had come to this facility to rescue their fellow mutants and not to make out with Charles.

_**"Erik?"**_ Charles' wobbly voice and wide-open eyes broke through his bruised lips to fill the silence.

_**"I'm sorry -"**_

"Hey!" A gruff voice broke through.

Both mutants snapped to attention at the aggressive voice to find heavily armored men looking at them in disbelief, and possibly, disgust.

"How did you two get in here?" One of the guards demanded as they leveled their weapons at the two intruders.

"We came through the front door," Charles wryly replied before throwing his illusion back up to fool the guards. _**"Erik, we need to get Raven and get out of here! I really do not desire being shot again."**_

Charles wearily kept a careful eye on the guns that the guards were pointing in their direction. They were, of course, panicking because they just saw two guys that disappeared into thin air.

He did not hear Erik reply back to him... he did not need to, as he could hear the iron door being forcefully pulled open.

In his mind, Charles called for Adam, as it would be the quickest way to get out of this mess before anyone gets hurt. Through Erik's eyes, Charles witnessed the metal-bender rushing over to Raven's side. How he wished to be able to see Raven for himself and to see that she is unharmed.

Distantly, Charles can sense another presence approaching from afar; the very person that Charles had long since given up on-Benjamin, his brother. Charles' heart is now torn between meeting his brother again.

Benjamin Ingham, or Ingham as the world knows him, is a telepath. One that could possibly rival Charles' in power. For years, Charles has been looking for answers about his brother. Now that he knows that Ben is still alive, his hopes have been renewed.

Perhaps, one day he will find the courage to face his brother once more, but that day is not today.

The trials and tribulations of today are enough to handle... he doesn't need to add more to the pile.

He can still feel Erik's lips against his causing a quick blush to come to his cheeks. And now, Charles must answer this terrific, yet terrifying, question on how to proceed.

"Let's get out of here!" Charles hears Adam's voice calling out.

Charles locked his eyes momentarily with Erik's, who is now holding Raven in his arms, before Adam whisked them out of the facility.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…..**_


	6. Part 6: Chapter 5

**A/N: ** I would dearly like to thank my wonderful beta once more for delightful and generous aid. I would love to hear what you think. Have a wonderful day.

**Chapter 5:**

"What happened?"

"I knew it was bad idea."

"I knew it was a really bad idea from the start."

The moment Adam had whisked Charles, Erik and Raven away from the ugly-looking facility, Hank and the other two boys began bombarding them with their displeasure.

"Erik tripped over one of the guards' feet," Charles explained, easily stepping around what really happened that ruined the illusion set up by Charles.

Knowing full well that Erik wouldn't want anybody to know either, Charles could feel Erik's gaze watching him like a hawk.

Charles didn't need to intrude into Erik's mind to see what the other is thinking-but now isn't the time. They needed to return to the mansion as soon as possible. He could feel, more than sense, Benjamin barging his way through the facility. Benjamin's anger could rival Erik's in its intensity.

To be so close, and yet so very far, from his brother is not how he had dreamed their reunion would turn out. Then again when has anything worked out as planned? He will have the chance to think over what to do with Benjamin once he has returned to the mansion. Again, the burden of carrying the secret of his long-lost brother nagged at him.

Mentally shaking his head, Charles struggled to focus on the events happening right now. He can think about Ingham later. First he must tend to Raven and then when he has the time, work out what the kiss he and Erik had shared, meant. He knows – he knew, for a long time now – ever since he had first gotten a glimpse in to the mind of the one man whom Charles finds to be both intriguing and irritating. Just what Erik feels for him. He just did not want to believe it to be a possibility.

"We do not have the time for dilly-dallying, Ingham will soon learn what has transpired." Charles found his voice once more, ignoring his team's smirks as they tried to imagine Erik tripping over someone's feet.

He too wanted to giggle at the image so he does not chastise them. After spending five whole months without a reason to laugh, they deserved to have some levity from all the tension. It will do them a world of good.

"Surely you can take him out, Professor?" Adam innocently asked him.

"Not today." Came Charles' cryptic reply. "Sean, Frost is not going to harm you in the state she is in. There is no need for you to hold her as though she is about to bite you."

It also does not really help Sean to be carrying someone who is wearing practically nothing but her underwear. With nothing but pale skin to touch, Banshee had on a look of embarrassment and innocence. Even with her awake, Sean need not fear an attack from the female telepath. Charles would have protected them from Frost invading their minds, or from Benjamin. With every breath in his body, he would see to it that no harm comes to his boys. Though they are not on the same side, Charles would not hesitate to put his life and mental health on the line for Erik, Raven or the rest of the Brotherhood to counter any attack from Benjamin. He will have to take care of these precautions once they returned home.

"Adam, if you will? Please take us home." Charles had noticed how quiet it became and so he took the liberty to break said silence.

Without another word, Adam teleported them all back home, bringing with them a team they do not trust, and a man that Charles cares about more than he would care to admit.

* * *

Erik stood by impatiently, watching Charles Xavier undo the work that the mysterious telepath, Ingham, had emplaced. His team had been placed inside a room that Charles had explained to be an infirmary. That will become useful for when the school opens.

Hearing someone trying to stifle a laugh behind him, Erik managed to take his eyes off the man he had kissed just a few hours ago. He turned to find Sean with a hand clasped over his mouth as if he could physically keep his laughter from erupting.

"Does something amuse you, Banshee?" Erik asked the young man.

"Only the image that is going off inside my head." Sean amusingly replied.

"That image wouldn't have anything to do with me tripping over someone's foot, now would it?" Erik wanted to strangle Charles for saying that, but it does beat the real reason as to how Charles lost his concentration. That would have raised more questions than they were comfortable answering.

"That could be one of them." Sean smirks mischievously at the metal-bender. "You do have to admit that the image of you, the mighty Magneto, tripping over someone's foot is not something one should miss. You don't strike me as someone who would do something like that. Adam, on the other hand, is."

Erik crossed his arms over his chest as he observed the smirking young man before him. He remembers, quite clearly, the day at the aquarium when he and Charles had found Sean trying to impress a girl. He remembers a lot of the days that should make him smile. But because of recent events, they are only a source of depression and guilt now.

"Did the others send you to watch over me?" Erik went over to stand a little closer to Sean. "I never meant to hurt you and the others, especially Charles. You must believe me on that one, Sean."

"I do not believe I am the one you should be apologizing too." Sean shifted on his feet as his smirk fell, feeling a little uncomfortable with the metal-bender standing so close to him.

Erik glanced over to the person Sean was mentioning. It is true, Charles is the one that was hurt the most in Erik's and Raven's betrayal of the team, but he still feels that he should apologize to the boys who had once looked up to him, as well.

_"Can you honestly blame them, Erik? They had all looked up to you to guide them; it wasn't just me they had wanted to help teach them with their powers. You were like the big brother they've always wanted."_

Erik mentally hears the words that Charles had spoken to him before they had shared their first kiss.

The kiss.

That was not something Erik intended. It just happened! It wasn't the way he had dreamt it, to kiss the best friend he had ever had on the lips. This possibility has long since troubled him in his sleep. He still doesn't know when he had truly begun to feel this way about the blue-eyed telepath.

Could it have begun to fester during that night Charles dived to rescue him? The night Charles told him he wouldn't stop him from leaving? The next morning when Charles agreed with Erik about finding their fellow mutants on their own? During their long days and nights of recruiting mutants? Erik doesn't know. The possibilities were endless as to when Erik truly started feeling something more for Charles. Something that went beyond the bonds of friendship, and even deeper than the love for a brother.

The memory of Charles telling him he no longer trusted him burned its way through his entire body. As if on a loop, he continuously replayed that scene in his head.

"_What of you, Charles? Do I still have your trust?" Erik somberly asked the bright-eyed telepath._

_"No."_

Erik had not allowed the younger man to say anything more, as he had suddenly found himself ravishing Charles' mouth.

Can that kiss outshine all the bad in their past? He remembers the way the telepath had clenched Erik's clothes in surprise. And the way Erik's hands had cupped his friend's cheeks, holding him with a desperation only rivalled by the actions of his lips.

Did he kiss Charles to try to get back in to his good graces? Or did he kiss the telepath, because he is aware their reunion will not be permanent?

* * *

Sean Cassidy may be described as being slow on the uptake, but he's not stupid or blind. He has seen the way his two idols look at each other. There is something beautiful and true in their gazes, though he was not sure if the metal bender and telepath even knew what was happening to them.

He does not have a problem with people being in love with the same sex. He doesn't hate Erik, or Magneto as he would prefer  
to be called, he just does not like the way the metal-bender had abandoned them on the beach.

Is he even aware of the trouble they went through? Does he know what it was like to hear a friend say that he could not feel his legs? Does the man know how they were almost persecuted, to become lab rats during that first month?

It was by sheer luck that the Professor gained the feeling in his legs again. Many a sigh of relief were released that day. The days that followed were filled to the brim with everyone pitching in to support their Professor, both literally and mentally.

Not long after, Charles erased Moira's memories. The Professor's protectiveness of his team and school overruled anything he may have had for the woman.

Sean isn't too entirely sure about what Moira and Charles may have felt for each other, but he knew that Professor did not hold any romantic feelings for the CIA agent. He did see them kiss before he took her memories, but the same looks that are in his and Erik's eyes were not present when Charles looks at Moira.

There have been a few nights where Sean discussed these findings with Hank and Alex, though they made sure that Adam was nowhere within hearing distance. The teleporter is still fairly new to the team and, for some unknown reason, Sean does not like Adam. But he tolerates him, only because he trusts the Professor's judgment.

Shaking his head to rid himself of Adam's presence in his thoughts, Sean went back to more interesting ones. Hank and Alex had also noticed the looks that the two older men throw to each other. They even expressed their support of the two if they finally realized their feelings for each other. But things are never simple when you want them to be. With Erik abandoning them and the likelihood that he would do so again, the team were quite scared about leaving the metal bender around their Professor.

Brushing his shaggy hair away from his eyes, Sean turned his focus to the slumped figure hunched over Raven's slumbering blue form. Concerned at the exhaustion showing on the telepath's body, he prepared himself to catch his friend's fall, if needed – but he has competition. Sean could see, out of the corner of his eye, how Erik appeared to be anxious to rush over to Charles' side.

Voices coming from the hallway captured Sean's attention. It would appear that Erik had also been intrigued enough to turn his gaze down the hallway, only to find Alex and Adam talking heatedly. Their conversation was becoming louder by the second– well Adam's was. Alex was just standing there with a look of outrage on his face. Whatever they were discussing, it did not appear to be a pleasant one.

It was also a distraction that neither Sean, nor Erik, needed. If it weren't for the distraction, they would not have missed Charles collapsing into the nearest armchair from exhaustion

* * *

"I don't like him!" Adam drawled out in annoyance, his gold-flecked green eyes wearily observing the tall mutant talking to Sean.

"Don't like who?" Alex leaned against a wall.

"The one who called me 'Apple'." Adam replied in a tone of voice as if it was obvious.

Alex didn't reply. He turned his gaze to further down the hallway, looking straight at the brooding back of the man whom the laser-wielder had once grudgingly began to trust. He wanted to say that he too doesn't like Erik – but that wouldn't be completely true.

Everyone on the beach had been wounded by Erik and Raven's betrayal and abandonment, not just Charles.

The brotherly sisterly bond that Charles and Raven shared was something worth being inspired by. It was a bond that Alex had believed could never be shattered. He didn't see what was coming until it was too late. It may have been what Raven had wanted, but she still left the man that had practically raised and protected her.

"And you're not even listening to me. Typical, very typical! I suppose I should be used to this treatment by now." Adam exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air.

"Did you even stop to think about the possibility that I do not want to talk?" Alex dryly replied. Turning his attention back to the redheaded teleporter, Alex immediately understood why Erik would name Adam, Apple. The freckled-faced teleporter's hair is as red as an apple's skin.

"Sometimes I wonder why I agreed to come here. It is so easy to see that you guys don't want to talk to me or take the time to know me—always finding an excuse to push me away! Professor X claims-"

"Don't start this conversation again!" Alex bristled at the thought of having this conversation being repeated.

Alex glared in outrage at the freckled-faced teleporter. Adam had come to live with them for Charles to guide and teach him, and to feel accepted by other mutants. But ever since the beginning, the teleporter has been doing nothing but complain, never following the Professor's directions…Calm your mind, FOCUS. Being his impatient and inconsiderate self, Adam did not care that Charles was still healing from his wounds, both physically and emotionally. All Adam ever cared about was his aspirations on how to become the best, and also on how to make the others go on an adventure with him to "do their part in helping the mutant community". But Hank, Sean and Alex stood their ground. They were adamant about staying because they had no desire to abandon what has become their home or the person that resides in it.

The freckled-faced teleporter opened his mouth to reply, only to have his voice being overshadowed by Sean's alarmed yell. "PROFESSOR!"


	7. Part 7: Chapter 6

**A/N:** Here is another update! I would dearly would like to keep on repeating saying thank you to my good friend and beta. I have no idea where I will be. By the way has anyone seen a faun? He was here a few minutes ago and now he has disappeared. He will come out of his closet when he gets a review. Professor Tumnus likes reviews... and he will allow Chapter 7 to be posted sooner, rather then later... Isn't he a cutie? Have a wonderful day amigos.

**Chapter 6:**

Both Erik and Sean instantly rushed over to the slumped figure sitting on the edge of the armchair with his head bowed. It looked as if, at any moment, Charles would fall out of the chair only to fall flat on his face. Unaware to the rest of the team, Charles did not just undo Ben's work. He implanted a powerful mental barrier, one that no other telepath could penetrate unless Charles willingly removed it or he dies, effectively losing the influence his mind would have with the protected mind. Raven and the Brotherhood would not notice the protection but Frost may sense the change.

"Charles!"

"No need to shout. I can hear perfectly fine." Charles mutters wearily at the magnokinetic mutant, leaning back in the chair to massage his forehead with one hand.

"You are not fooling anyone by saying you are fine, because from where I am crouching, you look anything but fine! In fact I would say you are closer to falling flat on your face than fine!" Erik slyly says to the stubborn blue-eyed telepath that holds his hearts in his lovely hands.

"I will have you know that the only time I ever fell flat on my face was when I was learning how to walk." Charles tiredly quipped with a smirk. "I, at least, have never taken a trip over another person's feet."

"All right, we get the picture." Erik could listen to Charles talk forever if only just to hear that beautiful voice of his, but the telepath's eyes were threatening to close up shop. Those startlingly beautiful blue eyes that Erik loves so much slowly started to slip behind closed lids.

"Is the Professor always this loopy-"

Adam never got to finish his question before Erik Lehnsherr glared at him from over his shoulder. Adam found himself wishing he could find a hole to hide in just to get away from that evil glare. The same one that was being duplicated by Alex and Sean. It seemed that the only people not glaring at Adam were Raven and Charles, both lost in their own dream world.

"What?!" Adam heatedly exclaimed, not caring about the fact that he is in a room where there are people trying to sleep. "Didn't your mothers ever tell you that it is rude to stare?"

"What's going on?" Hank growled as he entered the tension-filled room. He had heard Banshee's shout back down in the lab and had rushed out to help only to find a stare down between the group of mutants.

"The Professor fell asleep, that's what happened!" Adam answered sarcastically. "And these three won't quit staring at me."

"What did you do?" Hank rushed over to where Erik was crouched in front of Charles.

Hank, of course, had directed that question at Adam – he could not find himself to berate the metal-bender. Not when he can see how concerned Erik is about Charles' well-being.

"We should take him to bed. It will not do his back any good sleeping in that chair all night." Hank suggested to everyone within the newly formed infirmary.

"I am not sleeping. I merely closed my eyes for a few seconds," the telepath's voice slurred in his sleep – which sounded adorable to Erik's attentive ears.

"You can close your eyes when you go to your bed."

Both Erik and Hank placed a supporting hand upon the stubborn telepath's elbow only to have Charles yank his arm out of Erik's helpful hands.

"Don't touch me!"

A look of shock spread around the group, save Raven, Charles and Adam. Erik drew back his touch immediately.

Immediately, Charles wanted to slap himself silly for snapping at Erik, but he was too tired and sore to care about the other's feelings. He would give anything to be held by the metal-bender but, in this moment, it feels like he is being burned by Erik's touch. He loves the other man with every fibre of his being, but he also does not want to be wounded by the metal-bender. Erik will leave again to pursue his 'noble quest' and Charles will not be following the metal-benders' path of destruction. It is better to keep his distance from the other man so that he can limit the amount of pain they will experience when the time comes to separate again.

The shocked and wounded look within Erik's magnetic ocean-blue eyes almost made Charles beg for his forgiveness. For so long, the metal-bender had forgotten what it was like to love, to be accepted and trusted. With those three words, Charles may have wounded him more than what Shaw could have ever done.

_"I'm sorry."_ Charles whispers to Erik through their bond. A bond that Charles could not bring himself to sever. "_I… did not mean to say it like that."_

_"No… it is I who should be at fault. I should have remembered that you do not trust me."_

Charles did not say anything more to Erik, so lost was he, that he had not noticed the absence of one of his X-Men. Accepting Alex to aid him in Erik's place, Charles began to make his way to rest with Sean walking steadily behind them.

Erik, however, did notice the way one of Charles' team had simply vanished without so much as a word of where he was going or why.

* * *

"They came out of nowhere, sir." one of his guards reports, fearfully. "Then they just vanished into thin air!"

Ingham was fuming. He was so angry, he had almost killed one of his guards with his telepathy.

This was third time that his plans had been thwarted by those who call themselves the X-Men.

This group, surprisingly, is being lead by his own baby brother. In the beginning, he was filled with joyous glee at discovering that Charles is also a telepath. He WAS, but not anymore. Not when he had learned that his baby brother could be even more powerful than him. Ingham didn't know what to feel after learning that fact.

When Ingham had discovered his own powers at a young age, he did what thought he had to do-he ran. It was not just because he wanted to get as far away from Kurt as possible, it was because he had been afraid. But, now, he had no fear of anything. And this ignorance is a marvellous thing to have. No fear and no compassion meant that he could use his powers to control everything and everyone.

It all began when he came across a teenager in the town not far from his family estate. Ingham was astonished to discover that the teen was a mutant. One that had the ability to emit a super-sonic sound when he screamed, which most likely explained why he earned the name Banshee. Without any hesitation, he dove into the kid's mind. He wasn't trying to do any harm but after awhile, the excitement took over and his slip into Banshee's mind became a rampage, like a bull in a china shop.

But he had discovered very important information.

Charles is very much alive! Healing from a gunshot wound and living in their old family home, with intentions on turning it into a school for mutants.

One moment he was running rampant through the teenager's mind. The next, Ingham felt his own mind being violated by another telepath and thrown violently out of Banshee's. A presence was protecting the boy whose mind Ingham was about to destroy. Immediately, Ingham knew it was Charles. To feel the hidden strength and power that his little brother has, it was absolutely incredible and awe-inspiring.

Who would have thought that his pushover of a brother would be one of the most powerful mutants in the world? More powerful than even Ingham can dream to be.

He does not like it.

What were the chances that the two of them had turned out to be mutants with the same talented powers?

Every single one of his guards and fellow mutants, are afraid of him, as they should be. He has the power to read their minds. To make them do things against their will before they could even blink.

"How many?" Ben already knew the answer to that question. He just wanted to hear it from one of his men.

"There were two of them. One was dressed in leather and jeans, while the other one wore the type of clothes you had warned us to watch out for." The same guard squeaked in reply. There was fear in the man's eyes and Ben was enjoying the sight of it.

"Charles!" Ben exclaimed out loud in frustration. The need to hit something or somebody was becoming very great. "Thrice, he has now thwarted my plans."

"There was one other thing, sir," the same guard said, hesitatingly.

"What?"

"The two men, they were…" the guard seemed to be having trouble forming words around the image he had witnessed.

"And what were the two men doing?" Ben can already guess what may have happened. He had already discovered something amazingly shocking about his brother's feelings towards this other man when he had been in Banshee's head.

These feelings are both a weakness and strength for Charles. It was through this discovery that Ben had sought out the one that called himself Magneto. As a favour to Charles, Ingham took it upon himself to eradicate the mutant that had cost his little brother his legs and his life. But he should have been more aware of the lengths that Charles would go to protect his loved ones, no matter what wrongs they may have done him in the past. He would drop everything, forsaking his own life, just to save the one that abandoned him.

_I'm his own flesh and blood! He would shun me for someone he met mere months ago? _

"… They kissed." the guard said in disgust, the offending image overshadowing his fear.

"Kissed?" Shocked, Ingham found himself at a loss of what to think.

_So Charles found a way to undo the damage I caused in Magneto's head._

"Kissed!" Said the nameless man, known as Rick to one who actually cared.

It would seem that Magneto is the perfect way to discover more of Charles' weaknesses. Ingham was well aware of the cruelty he is inflicting upon his own family... he loved his brother once. But he could not find another way. He had to discover just how powerful his brother is and then he will try to convince Charles to fight alongside him. Help his brother reach his full potential!

_The two Xavier brothers! The world will grovel at our feet! No one would dare oppose us lest they risk death or slavery. _This thought left Ingham feeling absolutely giddy. The ideas of his baby brother standing alongside him, to finally have the chance to become a family, once more. He will not abandon his brother again– not unless Charles gives him no other choice.

If Charles were to refuse, then little brother may have to say good-bye to his precious Magneto and X-Men. Being the empathic, bleeding heart soul that Charles is, Ingham has an advantage over him in that he does not feel compassion. He has no regret and he does not care for the consequences of his actions.

Charles has been on his tail ever since the incident with that stupid boy. What will it take to shake his brother of his scent? Killing the ones Charles cares about will only cause more problems. No... There was another whose betrayal would affect Charles more than anything Ingham could think up. The metal bender will be an even worse enemy. For the time being, they are on the same side. Erik and Charles together is a formidable duo, not easily defeated. Alongside the pair are powerful friends that would willingly lay down their lives for them-the Brotherhood and the X-Men.

What should the next course of action be? He cannot just lay low until the storm blows over. Is there a way to tear the two lovers apart, or would that just bring them closer than ever? So many questions and possibilities! For once in his life, Ingham is unsure of himself. There had been a time, before his tormentors broke him - _NO! I cannot go down that path right now!_

Turning around to face one of his companions. This one was decked out in a jacket and hoodie, lending an aura of anonymity to the individual. Ingham mentally shook himself to get his head back in the game.

"We could just kill the telepath, right?" The other man suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "I am aware that he is your brother and all, but he has thwarted our plans three times now. First at the CIA Headquarters, then at that cave and now he has dared to step foot in to our secret facility. He will not stop looking for you so we must stop **HIM**."

"My brother would make a most powerful ally." Ben's green eyes hardened at the prospect of what he would need to do if the worst comes. "I will only kill him if it is the last resort. His death would only raise Magneto's ire and that of his precious X-Men."

"If you do not find a way to dispose of your baby brother, then I will gladly do it for you. I have fooled the fool so far and I can only continue for so long. He would not be expecting the expected," the mutant's face was hidden to Ben but his mind was not so well hidden.

"Do they suspect you?"

"No. And here I have you making me believe that your brother is a talented and powerful telepath. The fool is blinded by his empathy and so he has yet to see who I am and what I dream of doing. I will admit that having Magneto in his good graces will make the things all the more difficult," the mysterious mutant said to Ingham. "You should have seen the way he had rushed over to your brother's side, the moment the fool had fainted from exhaustion, undoing the damage you had done to the minds of the Brotherhood. Banshee and Havoc had placed aside their ire for Magneto in this common cause, to help aid the brute to put the fool into bed."

"You should return to them before they have noticed that you are yet to return. I will let you know when the time is ready. We should still remain cautious, now that there are two telepaths within my childhood home, it will be all the more difficult for you to keep on fooling the others." Ben turned away from the hooded mutant.

Ingham turned his gaze to the broken door. The one that Magneto had torn open in order to get to the blue-scaled girl. He could not get a proper read on her, but from what he discovered, his compassionate younger brother adopted her. Fooling their mother and stepfather, and even Cain, into believing that Raven Darkholme has always been a part of the Xavier-Marko family.

He did not look around to know that his companion, his spy, had disappeared. One way or another, Ingham will find a way to control his brother. Either he stands at Ingham's side, or Charles Xavier will have to die.

* * *

_ To be continued… in Chapter 7…._


	8. Part 8: Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

With as much caution as she could muster, Raven slowly began the process of waking up. Opening her eyes, surprise froze her body at the sight that awaited her. A sight that she had dreamt of for the past five months. One that she thought would not be possible, ever again.

The man sitting in the chair next to her bed is watching her intently with that familiar fond look he always reserves for her.

For so long, her goal in life was to find someone who accepted her form, those blue scales that covered her entire body. Someone who looked past her differences and still loved her like a family would. That dream had become reality when she met Charles Xavier that lonely, cold night as a child. At that moment, Raven had sworn to never separate or hurt this wonderful boy. But leave and hurt him, she did.

She longed to show the world her beautiful blue scales, to be able to walk down the street with no fear of hatred or discrimination. She wanted to hate Charles for keeping her hidden and constantly reminding her of the consequences if she were to show herself. But he was doing the best he could, never once pretending that he knows everything. Even he had gone through a phase where he was drowning in self-hatred and doubt, which is the reason why he left for Oxford in London—to prove himself and to find a way to help his fellow mutants.

Never once did Charles ever say to her that he wanted to be a leader, but that is what he came to be. He had become a leader before and after the fiasco occurred on a tiny beach.

Raven is proud of all that her adopted-brother had achieved. She both loves and hates him for being extremely over-protective and acting like a right old fart. It was because of him that Raven had to hide her true self and, through all that, she had never deemed herself to be beautiful because the world would never accept her rare and mysterious beauty.

She owes Erik a lot for telling her things that she had longed to hear and building her self-confidence back up. But when Raven tried to steal the chance to bribe her friend into helping her feel alive, wanted and beautiful, Erik never once fell for her charms. He never once gave into her girlish desires to know what it is like to be touched by a man.

_No man will ever want me, anyways._ She sighed.

Raven had been intrigued and captivated by Hank, as he too never knew what it was like to feel normal. To know what it was to hide one's true self from society. But he only loved her blonde form, with her ice-blue eyes and fair skin. He did not like her true body.

Why must she always find herself dwelling upon such things, when she ought to be finding the strength and courage to speak to the one she never believed would come for her. She knew he hadn't died on the beach. Raven would have felt his passing through the bond they shared but not once, during the past five months, did Charles ever try to communicate with her. Angry at this isolation, she desperately wants to hurt him for hurting her in such a way.

Her thoughts started to spin out of control, becoming distorted and blurry. Everything was fine and dandy until Moira came into their lives. Ever since the CIA agent roped Charles into helping her find Shaw, their whole lives changed. These days are now filled with so much death, betrayal and tension.

"All is not lost, Raven." Charles says to her.

"What ever happened to you promising me about reading my mind?" Raven sourly asked, not understanding where this aggression was coming from.

"I did not need to read your mind to know what is going on inside your head. Your face was saying it all for you." Charles replied, his voice sounding weary to her ears. "It's good to see you again, Raven."

"Its Mystique now!" Again, Raven wonders quietly why she is acting like this towards her brother when she should be overjoyed at seeing him relatively healthy.

"Mystique, or not. You'll always be Raven to me." Charles kindly says to her with a warm smile.

"What am I doing here? Why did you bring me here?" Raven began spouting questions.

"You are not the only one I had brought home. Erik and the rest of your team are also here. My team and I, with Erik's help, rescued you from a mutant named Ingham. He is also a telepath, like me." Charles patiently responds. He feels saddened by her behaviour. It feels as if the sister he loved and cherished is moving further and further away from him, and soon he will lose her completely. Then again, he already lost her on that fateful day in Cuba.

"I remember and I know what Ingham did to Erik...what he wanted to do to us." Raven sits up in the bed she never believed she would ever sleep in again.

She wanted to look into her brother's comforting blue eyes, the first pair of eyes that had not been scared by her appearance. Those same eyes that had only shown her the kindness that her own blood-relatives could never give.

"Do you know what it is that Ingham was trying to do to us?" Raven longed to latch her arms around Charles, to hold him and to never let him go, but she squashed that urge down as fast as it had come up.

"I know what Ingham's intentions were, but for now I will not be answering your questions about him. I will explain everything to everyone in the library." Charles is going to tell them everything, but he will hold back one big detail. He did not feel like explaining Benjamin's relations to him. This was not the right time.

Emma Frost would know from merely getting a glance into Ingham's tragic mind. He may need to talk with the sparkling dame privately to see what she knows. There may even be a chance that Raven had seen and recognised Benjamin, though he had run away before Raven came to live with them, she may have seen pictures.

Benjamin, with his green eyes and hair as black as a raven's wing, is the perfect living replica of their deceased father both in appearance and personality. Could that be why Brian Xavier favoured Benjamin more than Charles? He is the rightful heir to Brian's legacy. Even their mother, as unfit of a mother as she was, couldn't recover from Ben's disappearance.

"Ah! It is about time you woke up!" Erik says.

Charles glanced over his shoulder, his eyes locking momentarily with the man who had kissed him, before returning his full attention back to Raven.

"Rest, Raven." Charles says to his beautiful sister. He wants to stay by her side but he feels uncomfortable being in the same room with Erik.

He stands up from the chair he was sitting in, his back protesting as he bent down to kiss Raven upon her brow.

"What is wrong with your back?" Raven asked him in concern. She had immediately caught the tiny grimace on Charles' face when he bent his back to kiss her forehead.

On instinct, Charles' goes to say, "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong." but he knows Raven too well to know that line would not work around her. It also does not help the fact that Erik is also watching him like a hawk. The two people who know him better than anyone, even himself, are both in the same room waiting for an answer from him.

"Think real hard and it will come to you." was all Charles found himself muttering with a sad smile to his two best friends before vanishing from the room.

"Charles! Wait!" Erik immediately chased after the telepath, leaving behind a bewildered and wide-eyed Raven.

He wanted to stay to make sure that she was all right, he truly did, but his need to speak with Charles was much more important. They still needed to discuss what happened at the facility...whatever THAT was.

It did not take the metal-bender long to analyse Charles' words, only increasing Erik's need to wrap his head around the extent of the damage Erik caused his best friend. He may not have been the one to pull the trigger but he had been the one to deflect the bullet. Erik wants to blame Moira for being so foolish as to believe shooting at someone who can deflect bullets, as admirable as it may have been, but the blame was also on him too. And it cost him the most important person in his life.

Within one day, Charles' trust in Erik was shattered. Their friendship left in ruins. A friendship that Erik was not sure would be salvageable, especially if he were to leave again to follow his dream of mutant dominance.

Is this price too much to pay for that dream? Will the sacrifice of a relationship with Charles be worth it? The feelings that Erik has for Charles will never fade. But because of this dream, those feelings can never be acted upon or explored with the telepath. Their morals and ideals were too different. Surely, this is a small sacrifice if it means that Charles would be safe from the persecution and hatred of the humans that would surely come?

Must he continuously sacrifice his love for Charles in order to fulfil his dream for dominance?

The past five months have been pure torture. Not to be by Charles' side or feel his calming presence in his mind had become unbearable. It was surprising how much Charles' presence had ingrained itself into Erik's everyday life. When he was away from the other man, Erik would be plagued by thoughts of the telepath.

_What is he doing now? Is he wearing that stupid cardigan that I despise because it doesn't compliment those blue eyes that I love so much? What would he think of these plans I have thought up...*sigh* he would hate it, of course._

Since when did he begin to title the feelings he had for his best friend as "love"? Erik doesn't know what love is. It was long forgotten the moment Erik laid eyes on Klaus Schmidt.

After his mother was killed before his very eyes, anger and pain became the fuel for his powers. That anger that Shaw inspired in Erik was the same anger that was used to kill Shaw. It was the same anger that turned the missiles to face their makers and it was the same anger that almost destroyed the man he claimed to love.

Charles hears Erik calling for him. He wants to stop...he wants to turn around and face the man that stole his heart and tell him that he still trusts him and always have. He wants to tell him that he was hurt and acted carelessly before and he will never hurt him again. But he doesn't, he just keeps walking.

Charles can sense and feel Erik's confusion. He does not need to get a read on the metal-bender to know what is going on inside Erik's mind. But all he wants right now is to be alone.

Normally, he would be in complete control of his movements and decisions. Not a misstep would be taken, because how can a man who is so aware of everything that goes on around him, not be aware of his physical surroundings? But for once, Charles blanked out completely only to find himself standing smack dab in the middle of his bedroom with no recollection of his journey there. Unfortunately, he was not alone.

The very person he had been trying to avoid, the person that he has tried to distance himself from, had followed him. He would have liked nothing more than to surround himself in Erik's scent, to have the other's lips on his once more but that would not be the wisest decision if he were to prevent himself from heartbreak.

"I want to be alone." Charles did not turn around to face Erik when he found his voice.

"Not until we have discussed a few things." Erik says from behind him, staring at the younger man's tense back.

"Not unless you want me to make you leave." Charles does not like using his powers on those he cares about, but he will when it is the last resort. Everyone believes that telepathy is cool but, for Charles, this ability is not pleasant at all. Having to constantly hold back what is natural to him is a control that took many, many years to perfect.

He can still recall his powers at its infancy. The first mind he ever read was not a pleasant one. How does a nine year old cope with the idea of someone marrying his mother for her money and not because of love? How can anyone comprehend and live with the fact that the man responsible for his father's death, is now married to his mother. Or to find out that his parents considered his older brother to be the favourite, therefore, never showing an ounce of love to Charles

"You could make me leave, but I know you well enough to know that you'll never use your powers on me or on anyone else inside this mansion." Erik's voice magnetically drew Charles' attention back to the present.

The metal bender's chosen moniker compliments Erik incredibly well. The man's mysterious personality is magnetic, and a good looking magnet at that.

"Magnetic?" Erik's amusingly says out loud.

"How..." Charles turns around surprised.

"I do believe you were projecting just now." Erik answered with a smile before the other man could say anything more.

Finally finding the will to look into Erik's eyes, "My concentration and focus on my powers are quite low at the moment. They tend to be when I am tired." Erik scoffs at Charles' understatement. How typical of him to not show how exhausted he really is. Charles continues, "So, if you don't mind Erik. I believe it is my bed time."

"You are not going to get rid of me that easily." Erik's face had become unreadable, yet his eyes were betraying his thoughts.

"Very well then. If we are going to talk, then may I suggest we sit down." Charles said in a huff, pointing a hand towards the edge of the bed.

His bed is the only place where they can sit down comfortably, as Charles has no chair in his room. He did not feel the need to have an armchair when he believed he could never walk again, so he decided to give up that depressing object and the luxury that it provided.

His legs were really starting to ache from all of the walking and standing, though he had only been walking on his own two feet for almost five weeks now. HAH wait till Erik hears about that. The man will surely be going down the bumpy road of guilt tonight, after this conversation. But Charles will not let him go down that path alone. They were both at fault that day. They had caused pain to each other. Perhaps now is as good a time as any to relieve some of the burden they have both been carrying on their shoulders. Maybe they'll sleep better tonight.

Silently, Erik made sure the door to Charles' bedroom was locked and secured. He would not be pleased if there was an interruption into this long awaited occasion.

"Do you not have any armchairs?" Erik asked out of mild curiosity, as he had seen a chair in almost every single room within Charles' childhood home except for this one.

"I did, but I got rid of them." Charles replied as he gingerly sat down upon the edge of his bed, his eyes never leaving the figure standing in the middle of his room.

"Why?"

"Because there had been a time in my life when I had firmly believed that I no longer had any use for an armchair. So now, all I have is a floor, a windowsill and a bed to sit on." Charles wryly said to Erik. "I haven't really had the time to put my chairs back in here. Not with my injury, or when Ingham decided to come out to play."

"Your injury," Erik's voice was heightened with his realisation of just what Charles was talking about. "How bad was it?"

"I am not going to lie to you, Erik." Charles was not certain on how to fully describe what he had to go through but he knows he does not want to lie to the other man. Not when there is still a chance of saving their friendship-or whatever it is that they have. "It was bad for a while. For a moment there, I thought that I would be paralysed for life -"

"Charles…" Erik finally sat down at the far end of Charles' bed.

"Don't beat yourself up over what has been done. It was wrong of me to place the blame on you – I know that. I knew it the moment the words came out of my mouth." Charles compassionately says to the slightly older man sitting beside him.

"Then why did you?" Erik was losing himself. He was drowning inside a pair of the most exceptionally blue-eyes that he had ever seen – he longs to find that unexpected movement again, the very one that had caused him to kiss the telepath for the very first time. "For five whole months I have been riddled with guilt of what I'd done to you – and for what, Charles? All because you had decided to lay the blame upon my shoulders."

"You must never forget, Erik, that I had just been shot. Not to mention I had just seen you murder Shaw – you will never understand the conflict I had. If I had let him go...He would have killed you for sure and I – just could not bear to live in a world without you in it. But, if I did not let Shaw go, you would have killed him no matter what I said to convince you. And I could have found a way to stop you from killing him – but you had his helmet on, I was rendered helpless." Charles quietly said to Erik, his voice little more than a whisper in the night. "It only grew worse when you had switched the missiles around and made them head straight for the ships, which they had been launched from."

"Would you have preferred it if I had just stood there and did nothing, to watch you all be blown to pieces." Erik stubbornly says through clenched teeth. "Whether we were killed or not, they would have only launched another attack upon the beach – and they would have kept on doing it until we were all dead."

Charles continued to keep his eyes locked on to Erik's, "Be honest with me, Erik. If I hadn't been shot?" Charles carefully chose his next words. "Would -"

"Would I still have gone through with killing all of those, supposedly, innocent men who were just following blind orders – I guess we will never know," Erik wants to place one of his hands upon one of Charles' and never let go.

"So, you did fully intended on killing them all." Charles felt saddened by the fact that he has fallen for a killer, one worth saving.

"You've known all along who I was, Charles. You knew what I was doing for a living – if you would call killing my tormenters, living." Erik finally placed a hand upon the others. "And you knew what I fully intended on doing to Shaw once we had found him."

"I was a fool to have believed that you were a changed man." Charles would have gone up to start pacing the floor, but he could not, not when his eyes were latched upon the hand clasping his own. "Shaw, I can understand. But the men on those ships..."

"I was only doing what I believed was right. All my life, I have been surrounded by violence. It is all I know, until you showed me a different light. The kind of light I had never believed to be possible." Reverently, Erik raised a hand to cup Charles' cheek. His vision blurred as tears of joy, anguish and sadness clouded his eyes. "I never meant for you to get hurt. You have no idea the pain and guilt I have felt."

"I can hazard a guess," Charles realised how close their faces were to touching. "Because I had never meant to hurt you either."

He wants to lean into Erik's touch, to be closer and never separate. He wants to know if there is still a possibility of a future for them. He is aware that Erik is someone worth fighting for, because the metal-bender truly means something more to him. He would give up everything just so he and Erik can be together. Wherever Erik is, that is where home is.

But they can't be together, not with their differences always getting in the way. Not to mention their love would never be accepted in the eyes of society.

"Erik, why did you kiss me?" Charles tries to start up a conversation once more, as always enjoying the sound of Erik's voice. But this is something that needs to be asked.

Despite the fact that they can never truly be together, Charles still needs to know – he needs to know if Erik is going to leave him again. He needs to know if Erik plans on taking Raven away with him. He doesn't want to say good-bye to the backs of his two friends again – he cannot do it again.

"Because it was something that I have been dreaming of doing for a very long time. I will admit that it did not happen the way that I dreamed it would. I do not even know when I started to develop these feelings for you."

"Now you know what I had meant when I spoke those words to you earlier," Charles was of course referring to _'Erik, you're not alone'_. "Because Erik, you are not alone in this – but… you and I are completely different. It will never work out the way we want it to, especially not when you fully intend on leaving."

"Then leave with me," Erik fiercely whispered, becoming more aware by the minute just how close their faces were. He could feel Charles' breath tickling his skin. "I need you by my side."

"I know that you do, but that is the difference between us, Erik," Charles says his eyes locked on to a magnetic pair of ocean-blues, he will never grow tired of them. "Why must you leave when you still have a place to call home? This is your home too, but only if you want it to be. I will not stop you from leaving."

Charles does not want to tell Erik to never come back if he does decide to leave.

This was not how Erik had intended their conversation to become, yet it is exactly the very topic they must discuss. The two of them can never be together – they are two very different people. But that difference is what draws them together and makes them fit so perfectly. He had heard Raven describing them to be like two sides of the same coin.

But the world will never accept them. They will be branded as outcasts in the eyes of the church. Society will look upon them with disgust.

They will never be allowed to express their love freely in the world that they live in.

He is perfectly aware of what he stands to lose if he were to leave and to be perfectly honest with himself, Erik does not want to leave. He will have to discuss this with his Brotherhood to see what they would like to do. Their current hideout has been compromised and the best option they have for the time being is to stay in the mansion, until they know what to do.

"Let us worry about tomorrow when it comes." Erik wants to take the chance to kiss Charles again and possibly even further than a kiss, just so he can know what he risks losing.

"Erik," Charles caught a glimpse of what Erik was thinking, unintentionally. "We shouldn't…"

"I don't care. All I care about is you and I want to know what it is that I stand to lose if I leave." Erik leaned in even closer to the telepath; his eyes were now focusing upon the other man's luscious lips. "This is all very new to me."

"If we do decide to cross the boundaries of our friendship, we'll never be the same again." Charles whispered nervously, licking his lips.

"Is this what you want, Charles?" Erik felt nervous, himself.

"I honestly do not know what I want." Charles said, as a rebellious hand had found its way on to Erik's forearm. The strength and power that this man wields is unimaginable.

Erik was at a loss for words. If there was a time that Erik wished he could have Charles' powers, it was now so that he could see what the other was thinking at this very moment. Picking up on Charles' projected longing, Erik's resistance failed him completely and he captured the telepath's lips with his own. In the future, when the men think back on that night, they will always consider this kiss to be their first.

* * *

_To be continued… in chapter 8…._


	9. Part 9: Chapter 8

**A/N: **I would dearly like to say thank you to each and everyone of you for taking their time to not only read, but to review. It truly made me smile knowing that there are some out there that are enjoying the story. I also would love to say thank you to my beta reader for her wonderful help once more. I honestly do not know what I would do with out her. I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, as well.

**Chapter 8:**

Waking up to discover their hands were still clasped together as they slept the rest of the night together, brought a feeling which Charles had never believed could be true. They had talked the most of the night away, while stealing a few more kisses along the way. Charles had discovered, as had Erik it would seem, that he just could not get enough of the metal bender's kisses.

Sleep eventually did manage to catch up to them and they both had fallen asleep side-by-side. Now it would seem that dawn has finally brought tomorrow in.

What will today bring? Will everything begin to fall apart once more or will it simply bring two opposing teams together. Thinking of the possibilities only resulted in a headache.

It has been ages since Charles has been able to get a good night's rest without his mind being plagued by memories and thoughts. Ever since he was a small boy discovering his telepathic powers, Charles' sleep would be haunted by the thoughts and emotions of the people that surrounded him. It took months, if not years, of dedication and hard work for him to work up mental barriers to shut out the voices so that he can properly rest, if even for a few hours. Though he is quite advanced in manipulating his telepathy, night-time always brought out the worst in his control.

But while he is lying next to Erik so peacefully, the world and its troubles slipped away for that quick moment and he was not bothered by the thoughts of others. Slowly adjusting his body so he was basically lying on his side, Charles slowly took in the sight of Erik's ocean-blue eyes as it quietly observed him.

"Good morning, Erik." Charles accidentally yawned out loud.

"Am I boring you already?" Erik smirks as Charles covers up the offending action.

"No, just the complete opposite." Charles says through another yawn attack. "It has been ages since I have had a good night's sleep without any interruptions."

Erik slides his body closer to Charles. They were, amazingly, still clothed. They never did manage to go beyond their kisses.

"I, too, feel completely rested, for once." Erik said before stealing another series of kisses from Charles. "Now the morning is complete."

"Can't have a morning without a kiss now, can we?" Charles wryly says between Erik's attention to his mouth.

"It would seem not." Pulling away reluctantly, Erik gazed into a pool of azure-eyes. The feeling bursting inside of him left him speechless.

Charles opened his mouth to say something but promptly closed it at the smell that poofed off of Erik's clothes and into the young telepath's nose.

"Uhm… Erik?" Charles did not want to hurt the man he cares about by telling him he needs a bath but he must.

"Yes, Charles?" Erik's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"I would hate to tell you this… but uhm… you smell terrible." Charles quipped with a dry smirk, trying to keep his face straight.

"Do I, now?"

"Take a whiff of your clothes and you'll smell what I am smelling." Charles suggested.

Erik's eyebrow quirked up with a smile teasing the corner of his lips. He pinched the top of his shirt and brought it to his nose, inhaling deeply. What he caught from that shirt was enough to have Erik recoiling in disgust as if he was physically burnt by the smell. Looking at the shirt as if he could see the offending odour, he heard a muffled snort come from his companion. Raising his eyes to the other man, Erik could see Charles with both hands covering his mouth. Eyes wide, neck veins bulging from the increased pressure, and upper body shaking slightly, Charles was struggling not to burst out laughing. After a glare from Erik and a few deep breaths later, Charles was able to stifle his urge to giggle.

"Yeah… that does smell pretty bad." Erik quirked dryly before leaning in to steal another kiss from Charles.

"You may want to take shower before breakfast," the telepath smirked. "Or no more kisses -"

"Are you threatening me with your kisses?" Erik mischievously said. "Because that would be down right cruel of you."

"I am just thinking about what the others would say if they were to catch a whiff of you." Charles smirked as he suddenly found himself lying right underneath Erik's lean frame.

"Speaking of the others." Erik's face grew serious as he adjusted his body so as to not put all of his weight upon the smaller man. He could definitely get used to waking up to this. "I still have to talk to my team about where to go from here -"

"You still have plans on leaving, then?" Charles' expressions darkened a bit. "Did last night not mean anything to you?"

"Last night meant everything to me, Charles. Believe me when I say that I do not want to hurt you – I just do not know what to do." Erik rolled off Charles to pull himself into a sitting position.

Their hands separated.

"And now I have ruined our morning." Erik berates himself for spoiling such a special morning.

He turned his head away from Charles to look out of the window, taking note of how grey the dawn sky was. There were clouds gathering on the far horizon - storm clouds by the look of things. How fitting the emotions surrounding the two mutants in the room.

"There's a storm coming," Erik whispers.

"So, it would seem." Charles placed a hand on Erik's shoulder. "Whether you are leaving or not, it doesn't change the fact that you still need a shower."

Erik scoffs at that, leaning into the telepath's body. "I think someone is hungry." Erik smiles as he hears the tell-tale sound of hunger rumbling from Charles' direction.

Charles did not add anything more to the conversation as he soon found himself kissing Erik on the lips once more, which Erik returned just as vigorously using the kiss to say the words that the two of them can never bring themselves to say out loud.

* * *

Sean stumbled into the mansion's massive kitchen to find Alex and Hank attempting to make a fresh batch of pancakes – 'attempting' being the key word. The pancakes appeared to have decayed while the others cooked them, looking nothing like what a pancake should look like.

"What on earth are you doing to those poor pancakes?" Sean exclaims in mock horror to his two friends.

"Cooking them," Alex stiffly replied. "What else does it look like we are doing to them?"

"Massacring them from where I am standing!" Sean's eyebrows quirked joyfully higher as his friends scowled at him.

"You'll get no pancakes with that attitude." Hank growled in a huff.

"Good, because I have no desire to eat whatever it is you are calling pancakes." Sean playfully crossed his arms and leaned his hip on the counter. He was quite content to watch the other two make breakfast. "How is it that you can make a super-sonic jet and Cerebro, but you are not able to make something as simple as pancakes?"

"Be quiet, you!" Hank shuffled his feet as he whipped another pancake mix together.

"My mouth is sealed." Sean walked over to the kitchen table. "Do you think that we ought to get extra chairs in here?"

"What would we need extra chairs for?" Adam's irritating voice buzzed its way into the kitchen.

"We do have some guests joining us for breakfast and it would be impolite if we have them eating off the floor." Sean grumbled his reply.

"I thought they were the bad guys?" Adam said out loud without thinking.

"Bad guys or not, they still have the right to our hospitality." the Professor's accented voice quipped in, saving the others from replying to Adam's ridiculous question. Four heads turned to the doorway to see Charles, with hands in pockets per usual, stroll into the kitchen.

"G'morning Professor!" a chorus of 'mornings' greeted Charles with a big smile.

"Morning!" Charles smiled warmly at the young men standing in the kitchen. "Hank, Alex...What did the pancakes ever do to deserve your fury this morning?"

"That's what I wanted to know too." Sean pitched in.

"Well, as long as they taste like a pancake I won't mind." Charles smiled at the boys.

All three of them, minus Adam who is frowning away, smiled at Charles.

"Are your mornings always this chipper, Charles?"

Sean glanced over his shoulder to find Erik smoothly walking into the kitchen. He took note of the way that the metal-bender and telepath exchange a private smile of greeting among themselves. Sean can only hope that, no matter what happens, they would still be just as happy as they are now.

The smiles vanished the moment the rest of Erik's motley crew appeared. In that moment, nobody knew how to react. A smile to greet them? Give them the cold shoulder?

Luckily the Professor knew exactly what to say, "Would any of you care for a pancake?"

The Brotherhood all shared a quick look amongst themselves before taking a seat by the kitchen table.

Charles smiled briefly at Raven, who only gave him a small smile in return.

* * *

After devouring the wannabe pancakes, the entire kitchen became thick with tension. The storm rumbling outside was the only thing breaking the awkward silence.

"So, Charles? Do you know why Ingham targeted us?" Raven began immediately interrogating Charles, not caring that she sounded rude and obnoxious. "Or how he came to find us?"

Charles has a vague notion of the motivations of his brother; for a reason Charles can't comprehend, it seems as if Ben is out to destroy him by attacking those around him. For the time being, Charles will keep their relation a secret until he is ready and has more information.

Heaving a deep breath to sort out his thoughts, Charles began, "He first came on to our radar when Sean and Alex were at the grocery store in town getting some supplies. Ingham must have stumbled across them and decided to invade Sean's mind. He was able to grab a hold of Sean for a few seconds before I was alerted to his presence and I forcefully evicted Ingham from Sean's mind. In the process, I extracted some information from him and discovered his plans to infiltrate CIA headquarters."

"Would that have been so bad?" Erik asked. He was currently sitting on the opposite head of the table, facing Charles. Quite symbolic, if you think about it.

All that Erik received in reply was a stern look from Charles before the telepath continued with his explanation, "Ingham seeks to control mutants and humans. It is in our best interest to side with the humans in this aspect. Causing the humans more harm will only raise their ire against us; they fear us as it is. Why give them more ammunition?"

Erik wisely kept his mouth shut on the matter concerning the humans; it would not do well to make things worse. Especially not after how far he and Charles had come during a few short hours. This argument, however, may always remain hanging over their heads.

"But why does he want to control both humans and mutants?" Raven tried her best to kill the tension by asking a few more questions.

"I do not know why," Charles honestly replied. He truly does not know why Benjamin became the cold-hearted person he is today, another trait most likely inherited from their father. "Nor do I know what fuels this quest."

Charles caught sight of Emma's elegant eyebrow as it raised up a little, only to become straight again in the next second. The sparkling dame must be aware of something; she even appears to be close to saying something. How well she knows of the consequences those words would create.

"Let me just say that Ingham has something in common with our fearless Magneto." Emma daintily cut in, her diamond blue eyes sparkling with hidden mischief.

Everyone's eyes immediately focused on Frost and Erik, not knowing what this piece of knowledge could bring about. Charles had to fight back the urge to take the metal-bender's hand in his own, as he is still unsure on how to announce their relationship to the rest of the group. But for now, he was filled with a sense of dread at what Emma would most likely be revealing.

Emotionally, he is not ready for anyone to know about his kinship with Benjamin. After all the time it took to recover emotionally and physically from his injury, and then the shocking news that his long lost brother is alive AND a bad guy, Charles has been on an emotional roller coaster. And with the new relationship blossoming between him and Erik, Charles has not had enough strength and time to broach the subject with his team about Benjamin. The stress from bringing up bad memories to answer the, sure to be, hundreds of questions would not be beneficial to his mental well-being.

"What, exactly, do Ingham and I have in common?" Erik testily said through clenched teeth – the only person he is truly comfortable, talking about the horrors that he has experienced in life, is sitting directly across from him.

"Do you not know? He too has been at the mercy of Shaw's experiments." Emma smiled down at Erik. Her eyes, however, caught on Charles' before returning to everybody else's. "You weren't only one to have suffered by Shaw's hands. You weren't the first and you certainly were not the last."

Charles felt sick to the stomach at the knowledge that his big brother had been at the mercy of Shaw, just like Erik – that would certainly explain why Ben has anger management issues that could bring Erik's to shame. He is highly thankful that, with his telepathic powers, he is able to keep a stoic mask on for long periods of time, depending on what he is trying to keep hidden from others.

"There is, of course, another matter concerning Ingham's relations to one of us that is sitting in this room right now – and it is the one that Ingham is truly seeking to destroy." Emma smirked at the mutants gawking at her in disbelief, delighted in holding so much knowledge over their heads. Charles shot her a warning look, heart dropping to his stomach.

"Who is it?" Angel spoke up for the first time. "It's not one of us – the Brotherhood, I mean - is it?"

"No." Charles sighed. If the cat was going to be let out of the bag, then might as well be the person who put it in there in the first place.

Of all the times Charles wished he could use his powers, now was definitely that time. You can call Charles many things, but coward was certainly not one.

So with a deep breath to calm the darkness that was sure to come to his mind, "He's my brother."

The thoughts and emotions from the group bombarded Charles like a runaway train - oh, how he wished he wasn't a telepath right now.

"When I saw him, I didn't think that Ingham shared a resemblance to Cain." Raven mused. Catching the stressed look on Charles' face, she fought down the urge to throw her arms around her brother and comfort him - again.

"Who is Cain?" Alex innocently asked.

"Cain Marko was my step-brother." came Charles' curt answer. His control was starting to slip as he caught Erik's hurt expression for being left out. He hated being the sole focus of an interrogation, especially one that dredged up his past.

"Wait a second…" In all the years of being in the Xavier household, Raven only heard of a brother that died once. Thinking that it was a moot subject that would most likely cause pain to everyone if it got brought up, Raven never questioned it. "You told me that he was dead! How is it possible for him to be alive when he was buried? I saw his headstone!"

Charles exchanged a quick glance with Raven's demonic-yellow eyes, "I did not mean to lie to you Raven, or to withhold any information regarding Ingham's true identity – I was waiting for the opportune moment."

Erik did not know what to think or feel as he basked in this new source of information. He had not expected to hear that Charles has a long-lost brother, one that Raven had assumed dead. And that this very same brother is the one causing all this destruction. What complete opposites, they were; the pacifist and the homicidal megalomaniac.

On top of that, what were the chances that the only person in the world that he will ever love with all his heart, is the very same person whose brother was also a product of Shaw's tortures? Talk about living in a small world.

Just like Raven, Erik had to squash down the sudden urge to take Charles into his arms and comfort him. The amount of frown lines and pursed lips were definitely going to be permanently etched onto the telepath's face if it went on any longer. Charles already looked like he was itching to run off and hide...his hands were clenching and unclenching on top of the table at an abnormal speed. He was biting his bottom lip so hard Erik was worried he would draw blood. His eyes kept darting over to the door, every now and again. But other than that, he was, as always, the perfect leader.

Glancing over at Raven, he could tell she was angry. She must be so pissed with her brother for withholding such important information, but Erik was sure that the telepath had very good reason for not telling her, or anyone, the whole truth about Ingham.

"Why did you lie to me about Benjamin's death?" Raven demanded.

"Because that is what I had believed to be true until five weeks ago when he invaded Sean's mind." Charles addressed his sister, but made sure to throw his voice to everyone else in the room.

He was beyond uncomfortable at this very moment. How does one explain the many reasons why Benjamin disappeared without bringing out the skeletons in his own closet?

With this new information, the thoughts and emotions flared up immensely. With this sudden surge of emotion, questions started to come out of the mouths of the group, save Erik and Emma. Sean started it first with "But what does he want?" Then Alex joined in, then Hank, then Raven. It was all becoming too much for poor Charles.

With no warning and no physical manifestation of him using his powers, Charles froze the occupants of the kitchen. As of late, Charles had been practicing the many ways he could use his power without being entirely obvious. As much as he hated using his powers on those he cared about, he could not think of another way of getting out of this increasingly stressful situation.

He had enough. He had to do something before he lost it completely.

Taking a few deep breaths to bring himself back from the edge of a panic attack, Charles scooted his chair back and rushed out of the room. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Charles did his best to calm himself while making his way to the very spot that he used to like hiding in to escape from the horrors of his household. He used to curl up there to hide from Kurt's abusiveness, from his mother's drunken ramblings, from Cain's wrath, and even sometimes from Raven.

But of course, that hiding spot would also be in the very same room that Erik has claimed during their stay. Oh life, how funny you are.

The storm that was brewing outside unleashed its fury.


	10. Part 10: Chapter 9

**A/N: I would like to thank each and everyone of you kind readers for your wonderful reviews. I do hope that you had all enjoyed your Christmas Day. Thanking my wonderful beta, icanhearthedrums, for her wonderful help. Please enjoy this next chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it. Smiles all around.**

**Chapter 9:**

Erik wasn't entirely sure whether to blink or not, in case something else ends up missing. One minute, Charles was sitting across from them, fidgeting nervously while being interrogated and the next, the telepath had simply vanished. What surprised Erik the most was that the telepath didn't use his tell tale signature to give himself away when using his powers.

Even Frost seemed surprised, if perhaps a bit envious; by the way Charles had managed to fool her. "He is improving." was what Emma found herself saying. "I will give him that much."

"I still do not believe this," Raven ignored the others, staring at the table as if it provided the answers. "Why would Charles lie to me?"

"It's most likely not been easy for the Professor, but that was amazing how he did that!" Sean doesn't blame the Professor for wanting to keep quiet. He is well aware of the burden that one must carry when a person has a relative out there that you would rather keep under wraps. His cousin Tom isn't the most savoury of characters and he is not proud of that fact. He vaguely recalls there being a big man, all muscle and sinew with a cruel face, attending a family get together. The man made sure to stick around Tom at all times. Sean did not like the look of the man, as the strange man – whose name has escaped Banshee's memory – had the look of trouble twinkling behind his eyes.

Perhaps, one day, he will find out the mystery of Tom's indecent history but right now he should focus on the Professor. Come to think of it, Banshee is quite certain that the Professor is aware of Tom even though the telepath has never brought it up.

Snapping out of the trance of his own history, Sean quickly noticed the way everybody immediately set out in search of the missing man. Erik was, of course, the first to leave.

* * *

Erik walked into his bedroom after spending fifteen minutes trying to find Charles. Now that he thought about it, those fifteen minutes could have been spent discussing important matters with his Brotherhood. But as always, when it comes to a certain cerulean-eyed telepath, nothing is more important than him.

For years, before the metal-bender had met the irritating – but certainly adorable – telepath, Erik's only main concern was his own welfare. Never once did he have to worry about hurting others, as his mentality was that it's either kill or be killed.

Never before had he ever felt the need to protect another, to love another unconditionally or provide support for somebody else. How strange, these needs to think of yourself second when it comes to a person you care about. But that was set back in a time when he had believed he was alone and would never meet someone who sincerely cared about his well being without a selfish agenda of their own. That was before he met a dashing young man whose ideals and dreams clashed with his so dramatically that it pulled them together more than separated them. Sighing, Erik rubbed at his temples as he felt a headache coming on. He certainly felt every single year of his age on his body. Though Charles was only a couple years younger, his youthful face and cheery personality decreased the age number. Erik, on the other hand, believes that his life has forced MORE evidence of age onto his face...another sigh escapes him.

Erik was in the process of taking his top off, his favourite black turtleneck, when a peculiar sound escaped the wardrobe. Immediately on alert, Erik stiffened and craned his neck to pinpoint the location of the sound.

Then it happened again! That slight "ah-choo!" that sounded more like a mouse squeak than a sneeze, floated through the air and into Erik's overly alert ears.

There is someone, or something, sneezing in his wardrobe.

* * *

Huddled in the tiny space of darkness, Charles felt like he had been hiding for centuries. He is surprised that he even still fit in his old hiding spot; it has been years since he felt the need to hide himself away from the outside world. Since his powers provide companionship at all times, no matter what Charles does, the need to physically block everyone out was a defence mechanism for stressful times in his life. The times that he had spent inside this wardrobe had always been eventful. It was his special place but, because of the harsh punishments doled out to him by a drunken Kurt for the hiding spot, Charles had to give up his ingenious hideout. Relaxed after escaping that increasingly uncomfortable situation in the kitchen, Charles let out a relieved sigh.

His back, however, was beginning to protest at having been bent at an uncomfortable angle for a whole fifteen minutes.

The smell of Erik's unwashed clothes alone almost made Charles evict himself from his small confinement – he is really going have to tell the metal-bender that his clothes smell bad. Erik's smelly socks were, of course, the worst offenders and they were starting to make his nose itch. Maybe he would even have to teach Erik how to wash them and how to scrub the smell of mysterious past away.

He could sense Erik opening the bedroom door just as he could sense all the other people in the mansion roaming around looking for him. The beginnings of guilt, shame and embarrassment took a hold of him. He did, after all, leave the breakfast table before anyone could berate him any further about Ingham. Raven was the most affected by the news, out of them all.

But he had only told her what he had believed to have happened. At just eleven years old, Charles had to learn to control his powers by himself. There was no one to guide him nor to hold his hand during that difficult period of discovery and death. All Charles knew was that his mother loved his brother more than Charles and that his brother was gone. At Benjamin's funeral, his mother refused to provide any information or comfort to the youngest son, choosing instead to ignore the boy and continue on mourning for her beloved child. Despite there being no body to bury, Kurt demanded a funeral.

He is not perfect. He never once pretended to be perfect. Yet, that is what everyone wants him to be. Finishing college at the age of sixteen should have made his mother proud – but she wasn't there. She was never there when he had needed her.

Breaking through his melancholy thoughts, Charles began to feel a slow build up of sneezes. None of which he was sure would escape Erik's attention. Desperately trying to hold back the offending sounds, Charles wondered what Erik would think after discovering a telepath hiding in his clothes.

Now that will most definitely be a very interesting conversation.

Erik's clothes really do smell awful. The first of the sneeze attacks made themselves known and Charles stuffed his face into the crook of his arm to stifle the sound. It was not as quiet as Charles would have hoped it to be – he could hear Erik's shuffling feet pause in mid-movement.

Then came another sneeze. With one hand covering his nose and the other frantically searching around for his handkerchief, Charles' fingers became slick with post-sneeze goop.

Ceasing his movements like a deer caught in the headlights, Charles turned his head when he heard his hiding spot being opened. This was not how he wanted to be discovered-hiding in a wardrobe with mucus on his fingers.

* * *

On defensive mode, Erik was prepared for many things cowering inside the wardrobe, one of them most likely rodent-related, but never in a million years would he expect to find Charles Xavier. It was comical, really. The look on the telepath's face was one of surprise, mirth and a huge dose of embarrassment.

"Well, this is a surprise!" Erik said with amusement.

"A nice sneezing kind." Charles's nasally voice responded, all the while digging through the pockets he could actually access for a handkerchief. It's not the easiest thing to do with an aching back bent in an angle with one hand covering your nose.

"So it would seem." Erik opened the door to the wardrobe wider to get a better look at Charles. "How did you get in here?"

"Long story short, I climbed in is what happened." Charles replied wryly. "Your clothes smell awful, by the way."

"Thanks for the update," Erik didn't know whether to be amused or worried. Whenever he was around the telepath, emotions that have been dormant for sometime always reappear. "What are you looking for?"

"A handkerchief. I have one in my pocket, but I can't seem to quite reach it." Charles demonstrated with his one good arm.

Reaching into his pocket, Erik wondered to himself how easily it was for him to give Charles a possession of his just to blow his nose on. The need to give the telepath his everything was indeed becoming a reality.

"Here." Erik waved a clean handkerchief in front of the telepaths' comely face.

Looking up to the older man, Charles found himself gazing deeply into Erik's magnetic-ocean-blue eyes, seeing the kindness and tenderness that he knew was always there. Who would have known that one of the world's most deadly mutants has a heart of pure gold?

"It's clean." Erik patiently leaned against the wardrobe's other door. The one he had in his room was a double door made out of mahogany and pine.

"Thank you." Charles gladly took the offered handkerchief. Turning slightly so that he could regain some of his dignity, Charles blew his nose. He could feel the mischievous and amused look that Erik was throwing at him the whole time.

"Here you go." Turning back around, Charles playfully held the dirty handkerchief to Erik.

"I'm not touching that until it is clean again." Erik raised both hands into the air as demonstration. "You never did strike me as the type to hide in the closet."

"Why? Because I grew up in a mansion and so I obviously lived an opulent and spoiled life?" Charles grumbled, wrapping his arms around himself in the tiny alcove.

Erik once had thoughts that were slightly envious of the telepath-to be able to live a life with money and no needs unfulfilled. As a child, Erik would dream of a life like that as an escape from his own harsh reality. But what Erik assumed would be a rose-tinted childhood became darkened as he learnt more and more about Charles. He soon realized that they both suffered in their own way.

"Why don't you come out of there? You do not look to be at all comfortable."

"Nah, it is not that bad actually. I am surprised that I am still able to fit in here," Charles tilted his head back against the wall of the wardrobe. "It has been years since I've hidden myself in this thing."

"I must say, Charles, you certainly managed to impress Frost with your little vanishing trick." Erik crossed his own arms across his midriff as he gazed down upon the love of his life.

"I am sorry for that – I just needed to…"

"Hide?"

"Hide, yes..." Charles replied apologetically. Ducking his head, Charles quietly took in the appearance of the other man. Erik was wearing the turtleneck that Charles loves so much because it compliments the older man's eyes.

"You're staring."

"So are you."

Both men smirked at each other. The love they have for one another need never be spoken aloud - why should it, when they are perfectly aware of what the other truly feels.

The tiny space was becoming more and more distressing to Charles' poor legs and back.

Erik noticed the brief flicker of pain dance across the younger man's face, and immediately offered a hand to assist him.

"Here, you are not going to do your back any favours by sitting in a small confined space."

Charles looked at the proffered hand with amusement and slight annoyance for a second before grabbing onto it. "Thank you, Erik."

"You're welcome, Charles." Erik genuinely replied.

Looking down at their joined hands, Charles bit his lip so hard he almost tasted blood. The look on Erik's face when he realized that Charles was holding his hand with the snotty handkerchief stuck in between their palms almost had Charles rolling on the floor with laughter.

"I was practically asking for it, wasn't I?" Erik quirked slyly as he helped the telepath untangle his stiff limbs and climb out.

His other hand cupped the telepath's elbow to hold the other man steady. Charles' knees had the look of a newborn calf learning to walk, wobbling here and there as weight was placed on it.

"Well," Charles bewilderingly said. "I don't think I will be going in there any time soon."

Erik could only smirk at the man currently in his arms; this was something he had been longing to do ever since they had discovered the truth about Ingham's relationship to Charles. The look on Charles' face, when he found out that his older brother was one of Shaw's lab rats, created such an ache in Erik's heart that he wanted to just envelop the younger man in his arms and hide him from the pain and horrors of the world.

"How are you doing, Charles?" Erik found himself asking in such concern for the man in his arms.

"Funny, I was about to ask you that myself." Charles replied with a small smile, one that he reserved for Erik's eyes-only.

"It was not I who had chosen to hide themselves in a wardrobe for fifteen minutes." The handkerchief situation all but forgotten as the very object slipped silently onto the bedroom floor. "What you learned about your brother – it can't have been easy for you, Charles."

"But then that is life, isn't it? Nothing is ever meant to be easy." Charles moved away from the other man slightly, leaning against the door of his hideout.

Erik turned his face briefly away from the telepaths'.

"Are you disappointed in me, Erik?" came Charles' whisper.

Erik immediately spun around to lock his gaze on his beloved's eyes. "Why would I be disappointed in you?"

"Raven is disappointed in me because she believes I lied to her – " Charles is known for his eloquence with words, but at this moment, he doesn't know what to say or think or feel. The last time he felt like falling apart had been on that beach five months ago.

"I am not Raven, Charles." The strongest person that Erik knows and loves is barely holding it together. "We all have our demons to contend with so, no, I am not disappointed in you. Surprisingly enough, it only makes me love you more!"

"You...love me?" Charles' eyes widened at the choice of words.

"Why are you so surprised?" Erik smiled softly before tilting the younger man's head up with a finger under his chin. "I thought you knew everything there is to know about me?"

"I do, it's just that I have tried so hard to believe that what you feel for me is merely a fantasy." Charles' eyes had drifted away from Erik's magnetic-gaze and landed on the man's lips.

"But why? Why do you deny that my feelings for you aren't real?" Gingerly, Erik placed a hand on Charles' cheek and caressed the smooth skin there.

"To protect myself," Charles replied, as one of his hands raised up to capture the one resting upon his cheek. "And because I don't think that I deserve your love. My own family would say they loved me, but it was all an act-"

Charles' voice was silenced when Erik suddenly placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Funny, I had believed that it was I who did not deserve you and yet here we are." Erik rested his forehead against the telepath's. "I have made my decision."

"Which decision would that be?" Charles asked, eyes closed to savour the moment.

"I have decided to stay here to be with you." It was as if Erik's heart took over his mind and mouth, surprising the two men with this sudden declaration.

"But what of your team? Surely, you must consider them in the equation as well." Pulling away, Charles looked into Erik's eyes for a hint of deceit.

"I will talk to them. They may not like it but they cannot argue with the logic. We do not have anywhere else to go, seeing as our last hideout has been compromised." Amazing how fast their conversation can go from snotty handkerchiefs to this. "We've all been targeted by Benjamin's desire for control -"

"Erik, Ben did not target you solely to control your mind and to make you to become one of his puppets. He did it because he wanted to spite me." Charles' eyes hardened a little at this knowledge. "He did not like the way I evicted him from Sean's mind, or when we thwarted his plans at Langley. Ben would never have found you if it weren't for me."

"How did Benjamin manage to find us?"

"Did you seriously believe that I wouldn't be able to find you? I've always known where you were, Erik. No matter how hard I had tried not to find you or Raven – I… just couldn't stop myself from wanting to know that the pair of you were safe and happy." Charles longed for Erik's touch. "Benjamin must have found out about your whereabouts through me. Forgive me, my friend. I did not mean for you, Raven or for the rest of your team to become involved in this."

"If you had known where we were all along, then why did you not try to communicate with me or Raven? You must have known that Raven had cried for you!" Erik was angry; this was an issue that had been bugging him for so long.

"I did try but you both chose to ignore me. So, I eventually stopped." Charles mournfully replied, a sad smile toying with the corner of his mouth. "Besides. I had promised Raven to never read her mind. And you always wore that ridiculous helmet."

Erik immediately felt angrier with himself than with Charles. He even felt disappointed towards Raven for not answering her brother even though she had clearly missed him. They both missed their best friend, Charles had obviously missed them as well, and yet they had both chosen to keep the telepath out.

The rain splattered against the window and the wind howled.

"We were all at fault, Erik." Charles finally stepped away from the wardrobe door to stand in front of the other man. "We weren't born to be perfect, to be flawless beings that can't make mistakes, and that is a very human trait. Whether we like it or not – that is just the way things are."

Erik let out a laugh as he continued to be amazed by how fast their chosen topics change in a blink of an eye.

"What's so funny?" Charles smiled at the metal-bender; he couldn't help smiling at the sound of Erik's laughter.

"How did we manage to go from snotty handkerchiefs and wardrobes to this? I just find it amusing." Erik answered with a smirk, as a hand sneaked its way around Charles' shoulder to pull the smaller man closer.

"I'll have you know that I am not that small," Charles dryly quipped. "I just happen to be shorter than you."

Erik leaned forward to capture Charles' lips with his own. No more words were needed as the telepath eagerly returned the gesture.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_


	11. Part 11: Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

Erik wandered into the library to find the entire Brotherhood team sitting randomly around the room. One on the couch, one on the windowsill, one on the floor (thank god it's always clean, despite the lack of cleaning personnel). Approaching the open door, Erik could hear hushed voices drifting through the room, but the moment he entered the conversation ceased and all eyes in the room locked on to him. If Erik didn't know better, he would have thought that Charles had frozen them, they were that still.

"It's about time you dragged yourself away from your sweet, little lover." Emma's eyes twinkled with mischief. Though they are yet to cross the boundaries beyond a kiss, Erik is quite certain that he would wait till the end of time itself until Charles is ready, both physically because of his back and mentally to do anything more.

"Lover?" Raven's surprise is quite evident in her voice. It seems as if she is doomed to this emotion this whole day; first, with Charles' admission to Ingham's kinship to him, and then the very man she's been trying to "repay" for his kind words but has been rejecting her, is already in a relationship. "Who?"

"You mean 'who is HE'..." Emma smirked at the young woman.

"Male?" Angel screwed up into a look of disgust at the prospect.

"Male!" If one looked close enough, you could see the light-bulb flash on top of Raven's head. _Well that explained a lot of things..._

"Let it go, Raven," Erik snipes at the young shape-shifter. "we have more important things to discuss."

Right now, his love life is the last thing he wants to share with anybody. It is as if it's a secret that he wants to only share with Charles, creating this warm feeling in the center of his chest. Erik's never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve for all to see his emotions. The only person that has ever broken past that barrier was Charles, then again the mind reader is a special story all together. He is the first person, since his mother's death, that has shown Erik understanding and care about his wellbeing without an ulterior motive - a person with such a kind heart is certainly hard to come by.

"We must come to a decision on whether we are staying to help Xavier with the problem of this other telepath." Erik's heart is telling him to stay in the manor, where the one man he loves with his whole being resides, but his instincts are calling for the opposite. "This Ingham fellow -"

"You mean Benjamin Xavier, do you not?" Raven's anger laced statement cuts through Erik's sentence. "Ingham is just a name that my beloved fool of a brother conjured up to mislead us."

"Your brother may be many things, Raven – but a fool is not one of them." Erik can understand that Raven is angry and hurt over the recent events, but he will not stand by and listen to anyone insult the man who has shown them nothing but kindness... the very man who Erik would gladly lay down his life for.

"It does not matter what decision we make when it is quite obvious that you have already decided to stay." Emma can be quite vocal when she wants to be. "You will stay and fight alongside the very people who stand between you and your goals. Are you that willing to give up your quest for your love?"

If anyone asked, they would have said that Erik's eyes were so angry they looked just like the storm raging outside. It was enough to shut Emma up and wipe the sneer right off her face.

"Need I remind you that it was Charles and his team who organized your rescue from Ingham's clutches. And, despite our differences, he welcomed us into his home with open arms. Our last place of residence has been compromised. The logical thing to do would be to stay here for now, and after we have dealt with Ingham, we can find a new place to settle into."

With this promise made to his team, Erik would like nothing more than to go find Charles. It hurt him to even consider leaving the telepath, but there should still be a good amount of time for him to see where their relationship could be taken. He has confessed his love to Charles, but he wonders if this confession is because he knew he would leave one day.

"Then stay it is." Janos is not a man of many words, but he does like to let the others know that he can still speak every once in awhile.

One by one the Brotherhood began filing out of the library until there were two left.

"Raven, can I have a moment?" One thing has bugged Erik—why has Raven been ignoring her brother after he tried to communicate with her on multiple occasions.

"How many times must I remind people that I know longer go by that name?" Raven snaps as she plunks back down into the seat she occupied and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"What do you have against the name you grew up under?" Erik's eyebrows raised up an inch.

"Nothing – it just reminds me of my past, which I have been trying to ignore for some time now." Raven stoically replied, though her eyes were full of a hidden sadness. "So, are you going to tell me who this male lover of yours is?"

"No." came Erik's immediate reaction. He would like nothing more than to strangle Emma with a thin piece of metal for blabbing about something that is so sacred between him and Charles. The world is not ready to know. "I did not ask you to stay to discuss my private life."

"Then what shall we talk about?" Raven has a wild imagination on who this lover of Erik's is but she needs to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

"You had told me that Charles never contacted you...was that true?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Call it curiosity trying to kill the cat." Erik crossed his arms. Two mutants stared down one another, postures identical.

"What did the poor creature ever do to deserve such treatment?"

"You're not going to answer my question, are you?" Erik asked, one of his eyebrows arched up in annoyance.

"I do not have to answer to you!" Raven got up and stormed out of the library before Erik could say anything more.

With nothing else to do, Erik went off in search of Charles.

* * *

Sitting at his desk working on the mountain of paperwork in front of him, Charles is so caught up that he doesn't even notice Erik's presence until he goes to stretch. Finally looking up, he sees Erik leaning in the doorway, content to watch the telepath work with a fond smile.

"How did it go?" Charles smiled.

Locking his gaze with all-seeing blue eyes, Erik walked over to take a seat in front of Charles' desk. "Better than I expected. They've all agreed that the best option is to stay. They definitely do not like it, though - your brother has managed to royally piss them off something good."

"Another trait that he inherited from our father." Charles sighed as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Were you and your brother close?" At the look of such stress, Erik walked around the desk to lean against the oak at Charles' right side.

"We never really had the chance to be close," Charles said. "Especially not when my telepathy…" His life as a child is not the simplest thing to put into words. It is not the rosy spoilt childhood that everybody thinks it is, especially with the added complications from his blossoming telepathy.

Looking away from the older man, Charles's thoughts eventually led him to the few amount of memories he shared with Ben. He blames himself for not sharing his mutation with his brother when it started, leaving Ben to feel as if he was an outcast for having telepathy. Eventually this isolation resulted in Ben running away and becoming the villain he is today. But a part of Charles also wonders whether this would have been enough for his brother to stay.

"You all right?"

Snapping away from his thoughts at the sound of Erik's voice, Charles tore his gaze away from the sheet of paper he had been trying to stare a hole into. Looking up, he saw a pair of ocean blue eyes watching him with concern and, possibly, understanding. Once again, Charles is stumped that those eyes that once only held pain and sorrow, now shine with love directed solely at him. What did he ever do to deserve such loyalty and affection?

"Yeah I will be." Charles finally replied. "For almost a decade and half, I believed that Benjamin had died after running away, and that was why he never came back to us. But with this new revelation, comes a troubled past similar to yours. It's a lot to process."

Erik placed a comforting a hand upon the telepath's, distantly aware that he was still holding a pen. He has never felt the need to provide comfort for another person, so the experience is still quite new to him. But what he is sure of is that staying for as long as he can is the right choice-because Charles needs him now more than ever. Leaving Charles was a mistake and one that Erik has no desire of making again, not unless he has to. As long as Charles is safe and happy, Erik will do whatever it takes it keep it that way.

"What are you working on, anyways?" Erik understands perfectly the difficulty Charles has of explaining his trouble away, which is why he felt the need to lock himself in a wardrobe, of all places.

"I, my dear Erik, am working through all of this paperwork to help ensure the safety of the school for mutants that I have planned." Charles replied with that smile, the one which he has now personally reserved for Erik. The one that made his eyes even more blue – if that were possible. "I am so far behind that it isn't even funny anymore."

"What about Benjamin?"

"What about him? I have placed all of my efforts into tracking him down, but all of my work has been in vain. Until I have more information, I am going to place some of my attention back to helping the mutant community." Charles tried to make sure it didn't sound harsh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"It's quite all right, you are under a lot of stress." Erik leans down a little, shifting his body until his lips came dangerously close to the telepath's. "I want you to know that you're not alone, not if I can help it."

Exchanging a very brief kiss before collecting his composure, Erik made sure to lock his gaze with Charles' to show that he meant every word. There is no way in hell he'll abandon Charles in his time of need.

"I do believe I have made the right choice in bringing you back here. The others thought I was bonkers!" Charles shifted his chair back to stand up. _All the better to devour your lips, my dear._

"Only slightly bonkers." Erik teased as he happily grinned at the smirking telepath. _You should smile more often, Erik._

"Speaking of crazies - Charles, Emma knows about us. She even blurted out to the others that I have a male lover."

"What do you suggest we do?" Standing up straight, Charles' frown reappeared.

"I would rather we didn't say anything until we are ready – you should have heard how my team reacted when Emma told them that I have a male lover."

"You would be surprise to learn that not all them will react that way towards us." Hank, Alex and Sean do not know of their relationship yet but Charles is quite certain that when the time comes, they could count on the boys' full support.

"Many of them will not understand." Erik crossed his arms over his chest at the thought of society itself.

"It is the way that they've been raised and taught to believe, I know for a fact that my good Christian mother would have been doing her hardest to have me marry a woman for the sake of the family name. It will not be easy." As if to rebel against this small memory of his mother, Charles ran a hand along Erik's shoulders.

"No, but I wouldn't want it to be easy to begin with." Erik said as one of his hands had captured the one rubbing soothing circles upon his body. "Being mutant is not so easy either."

"Particularly difficult if you are an unregistered mutant." This was as good a time as any to tell Erik about this latest discovery.

"Unregistered mutants?" Erik's eyes narrowed at this.

"When my team and I were at Langley to stop Ben's plans, we discovered something just as shocking." Charles pulled his hand out from under Erik's grasp in order to walk over to the thick file sitting atop the coffee table in his study.

"We discovered this." He handed the manila folder to the older mutant. "This file contains the plans for a registration act aimed towards mutants. It is not official yet."

"I warned you, Charles. I knew this would happen."

"I know," Charles sat down upon a small settee placed in front of a lazy fire. "Why else do you think that I was trying to communicate with you not long after Cuba?"

Erik's eyes immediately snapped away from the file to stare at the other man. His eyebrows furrowing into a frown, Erik ran through his head what Charles was trying to tell him.

"What do you mean?" Erik found himself plonking down onto the settee beside Charles.

"Not long after you had Azazel teleport you off the island, Moira managed to convince the U.S. Navy to help us." Charles placed his chin on top of his clasped hands, with his face angled to observe Erik properly, as he began to tell Erik of their ordeal. "I had lapsed into unconsciousness so I was not aware of what Moira and the boys had to go through. They did manage to get me to a hospital but it was not long after I regained consciousness that I learned what the CIA were planning to do to us."

"And what were they planning?" Erik's teeth clenched...he can hazard a guess as to what the CIA had planned on doing.

"They were going to do exactly what you said they would. It was by sheer luck that Moira and the boys found a way for us to escape before they could follow through with their intentions."

Erik felt like screaming and punching himself for being so stupid as to wear that foolish helmet. All this time Charles and the boys had to fend for themselves against hostile forces, and their pleas for help landed on deaf ears. Even Raven chose to ignore her brother's cry for help.

"Do not blame yourself for something that was out of your hands, Erik. You could not have known." As if he knew already that Erik would start to blame himself, Charles laid a hand on Erik's tense arm.

"I know but that won't stop me from blaming myself." Erik smiled softly.

"We are both at fault for our own misfortunes." Charles smiled warmly and proceeded to place a small kiss on Erik's lips.

A soft click of a door locking could be heard as Erik made, what was meant to be, a chaste and tender kiss into a hot and passionate snog fest.

Eventually, Charles found himself flat on his back with Erik on top of him. Regretfully, the two men pulled away to catch a breath and to adjust themselves into a better position upon the small couch. Drawing random circles upon Erik's clothed back and feeling the muscles that lay hidden underneath his fingertips, Charles couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away.

"I love you." Charles blurted out.

Metallic-blue orbs observed the man lying underneath him, as exceptionally bright blue ones quietly watched him in return. No words need be said, for their eyes said more than words ever could. After enduring five cruel months apart, they have every right to reabsorb each other's gaze to their heart's content.

"Well, this is certainly not going to get my work done." Charles smirked, as his right hand gently swiped a stray sandy lock from Erik's forehead.

"Complaining?" Erik smirked as he stole another kiss from the telepath.

"Nope." Charles smirked in return.

Stealing another kiss, they wonder quietly to themselves how they've become addicted to this simple act of affection. Adjusting himself slightly to keep from squishing Charles, Erik's vision danced with stars and rainbows when his crotch accidentally rubbed on the telepath's.

In another time with anyone else, Erik would have felt disturbed and even disgusted by the mere thought of being this intimate with another man's body. Fate certainly has a funny sense of humor.

"What is it?" Something was troubling Erik, Charles could immediately tell.

The metal-bender had obviously been lost in thought, most likely tied with how their lower regions accidentally rubbed together causing some groovy friction.

After not getting a reply, Charles tried again to break the silence but immediately broke off with a yelp of pain as invisible fingertips probed his mind. The pain of the sudden intrusion was so strong that he did not realize he had sat up, causing a stunned Erik to fall to the floor. His hands immediately clasped onto his head, as if he could physically pry the pain away from his mind. This was something that has been happening more and more frequently the past few months.

"Charles!" Erik immediately placed his hands on the smaller man's shoulders, watching him with concern filled eyes.

The sound of Charles' pain filled cry mimicked the one he heard on the beach five months ago...Erik never wants to hear it again.

"I'm all right." Charles tries to assure the metal-bender as his fingertips massaged his temples.

"Not from where I am sitting." Erik was now perched on the edge of the settee to give Charles as much space as he needed.

"It's not the first time…" Charles swallowed back down the words that knew would not assure the other man of his health. Moving to get up, "I should be returning to my work now."

"You're not gonna get rid of me that easily." Not moving a muscle as a sign of his determination, Erik's concern level was at full blast.

Charles could only offer an amused smile in return when he realized that nothing he could say would get him out of Erik's watchful eye. Deciding to switch topics, Charles broached a question that he had been thinking about recently.

"How would you like to help Hank and I on a project?" Charles curled his knees inwards, as his right side leant against the soft cushions of the settee.

"What kind of project?"

"Cerebro." Charles replied, wry smile curling the corner of his lips.

"Cerebro?"

"Yes, Cerebro. It's one of the many things we have in progress to build up this sanctuary for mutants."

Using the excuse of kissing Charles, Erik rolled this new suggestion around his head. "And where do you plan on putting Cerebro?"

"Under the mansion," It was Charles' turn to return the kiss. "but if you don't want to help, that is entirely up to you…"

His sentence was cut short as Erik pulled him in to claim his lips with passion laced intensity. Charles's hands found its way behind Erik's head, pulling him closer by the latter's neck, while Erik placed a hand to steady himself on the telepath's hip. The fire crackled in the fireplace as the silence stretched on, only interrupted by the sounds of the lover's passionate kisses.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Charles says in between Erik's lips and coming up for air.

"Well, if I am to stay here, I have to find something to do – besides kissing you, that is." Erik was having the same problem as the telepath. "We still have to deal with the others about 'us', though."

"It would be wise if our relationship was told by us rather than someone else's lips." Charles said as he found himself curling his arms around Erik and pulling him closer. Erik leaned his head back against his beloved's shoulder, listening to the beautiful sound of the telepath's heartbeat. The rhythmic thump-thump was music to Erik's ears, relaxing him like no other sound can.

"We'll tell them at dinner—together."

"Together."

* * *

_To be continued…_


	12. Part 12: Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

The moment that Charles opened his eyes, he could immediately tell that something was wrong. First of all, he did not recall falling asleep on the small settee, which is not comfy at all to sleep on in the angle he found himself curled up in. In front of him, in his arms, was the slumbering form of the man he loves. Rain was still splattering furiously against the windows outside, trying in vain to gain entry into the warm fire-lit room.

The dreary weather matched the confusion that was surrounding the entire household. He can sense that Raven is confused and upset; the need to go out and to seek her was overruling his current slumber.

"I do believe that I am about to vomit at the sight." A voice echoed inside his mind.

A voice that had dread and joy warring for dominance of Charles' emotions. It was a voice that has been causing so much trouble for the rag tag band of mutants.

"What are you doing here?" Charles' voice echoed his displeasure upon seeing Benjamin... dread it is then.

"I came because I believed that it was high time for you and I to have a little chat, my dear brother." Ben smiled at his brother, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "And do not worry, no one need know of our conversation – we are, after all, inside our minds."

"What if I have no desire to speak with you?" Charles said in a snap, feeling his arms tighten their embrace, as though calling for Erik's strength to protect him and to protect the metal-bender in return.

"Well tough... I am not leaving until I say what needs to be said." Ben dryly says to his baby brother, waving a hand to dismiss Charles' words.

"Then SPEAK!" Charles scowled at the one person he had never believed that he would be able to see, or talk to ever again. "Why did you leave?"

"I ran to get a way from Kurt," Ben replied shortly.

"We all mourned for you, we searched for you - "

"Sure you did, but that still did not stop you from giving me a fake funeral - "

"That was Kurt's decision, not our mothers'...nor was it mine." Charles found himself untangling from the older man next to him and standing up to glare at his big brother. "Do you have any idea what your leaving did to our mother? Did you know that it was because of you that drove her to kill herself in the end?"

"It was not I that drove her to drunken insanity though, was it? You too ought to bear some of that burden. Both you and Kurt are to blame." Ben smirked what he believed to be an evil one. "I, however, do regret not being able to attend her service. But enough with the trip down memory lane, I would like to know why I can not read the minds of your companions!"

Turning slightly to look at the adorable scene before the two of them... Erik's relaxed, sleeping form with Charles' conscience-less body lying next to him. He was glad that Ben could not reach the minds of his friends but that won't stop his brother from attempting to read his mind.

"You can't?" Charles smirked wryly as he returned his attention back to his brother's glaring figure. "That must be quite embarrassing for you."

_"Charles? Are you in there? Why is this door locked?"_ Raven's voice echoed from the real world.

"Yes, that is a marvelous question - why DID you lock your door?" Ben's hazel-green eyes flashed with hidden mirth. "I can only imagine what our father and mother, or even Kurt, would say about you having a male lover. I would require a bucket, or even a hat, for even knowing this disgusting piece of information."

"Who I choose to love is not your choice to make, but my own. I love Erik and there is nothing that you, or our dearly beloved parents, could ever say that will stop me from loving him." Charles took a step closer to Benjamin. What he had just said is the truth and it was making him bolder. "Why did you really choose to target Erik and his Brotherhood?"

"I did it to avenge you!" Ben's eyes flashed in anger at the ungratefulness. "After I learnt from that idiotic boy -"

"Sean is not an idiot! And you had no right to invade his mind like that! If you do not like the fact that I had thwarted your plans, then you should have chosen another mind to invade." Charles's cerulean-eyes hardened with controlled anger, almost becoming as hard as sapphires.

The door to his study splintered open by force, and Hank stampeded right in like a furry, blue wrecking ball. After calls for a response went unheeded from the sleeping couple, the group outside determined that they would need to take drastic measures. Following Hank's destruction was the rest of the X-men and the Brotherhood - their voices, thoughts and emotions were practically drowning Charles. The sight of their leaders cuddled up together left most of them bamboozled... the others in awe.

Charles must have accidentally projected his pain and anger to the rest of the household for them to be taking such drastic measures. Watching the group's reactions like a hawk, Charles startled a bit himself when Erik jolted awake at the intrusion of the study door.

But, he does not wake himself – instead he is still stuck within his own mind, arguing with his brother where no one can save him if Ben decides to get violent. Not even Emma Frost can help him. Turning back to his brother, he catches Ben's watchful eyes following his every move.

_"Professor!"_

He hears Hank calling out to him – but neither of the two halves of Charles make a move to answer. There were more important things to take care of right now.

"I was not aware that there is a party going on." Ben amusingly said through clenched teeth.

"What do you want from me?" Charles' patience is starting to run thin.

"I do not want to harm you Charles, but I will if you stay in my way." Ben stepped closer to the younger man. "You are powerful, brother, I will say that much – perhaps even more powerful than I."

"So, let me get this straight – all of this is because you are jealous?" Charles is aware of just how far he can push his powers beyond his control – but he would never cross that line.

"Seems fitting, does it not? You were jealous of me for receiving most of our parent's affections and devotions, while I am jealous of your strength." Ben scoffed evilly as Charles took a step backwards.

"I was mortified, not jealous. Big difference! Oh, another thing, it was never my intention to hurt your friends...they were just in the crossfire."

It was a mad house in that mansion's room. What was once peace and quiet was now filled with shouts of alarm; Raven was tapping Charles' face in a vain attempt to wake him. Erik's eyes were wide open with shock, staring at the still form of the man he loves. Hank leaned his head close to Charles' face to make sure that he was still alive. The others all stood there with looks of shock on their faces. But Charles tuned his friends and acquaintances out of his mind, and focused solely on his brother.

"But you see, that is what makes you weak!" Ben poked a finger against Charles' chest.

"Why? Because I value the life of every person on this planet, no matter how big or small? Because I would rather try and save a life than to take one? How is that considered a weakness?" Charles is very familiar with the strength of his abilities. If needed, Charles could kill an army with a single thought, but he also has the power to control those urges. _With great power, comes great responsibility._

Ben's mouth formed into a smirk, not just at his little brother, but also at the scene that was unfolding around them. Their genuine concern for his younger brother was quite amusing.

Hazel-green eyes swept through the crowd, hovering around the slumbering Professor, to find his spy. The boy was grinning like an idiot, not caring enough to show an ounce of concern for the telepath because he knows exactly what's going on here.

"Is there something humorous about the situation, brother?" Charles watched Ben openly smirk at the young group of mutants. _He and Adam really think I'm that stupid._

"I must congratulate you on your attempt at deceit. You have underestimated me if you really believe that I was blind to Adam's allegiance to you."

Ben's eyes quickly dart to Charles' twinkling blues. A smug smirk on Charles' face set his blood boiling.

His thoughts immediately turned to violence. Charles' body may not be in front of him right now, but the brain is a remarkable object. If the mind believes it to be so, the body will react accordingly - mind over matter. Charles is currently in a dreamworld right now, but his mind still thinks that it's in the study. The fire's heat can still burn because the mind says that it will. If Ben were to stab Charles right now, the brain would register a wound and Charles would still feel pain.

Endless ideas on hurting the other telepath ran through Ben's head. But he knew that no matter what he did to Charles, it would never compare to the amount of pain Charles would be in if Erik were to get hurt instead.

"You knew all this time, yet you did nothing about the traitor?"

"Did you seriously believe that I would sit idly by while you plot harm to those I care about?" Charles could sense the angered thoughts in Ben's head. "Violence will not achieve you anything in return. There is more to life than aggression."

Ben's need to punch something became far too great for him to handle. Cocking his hand back and throwing a strong right hook, the sight of his brother's head snapping to the right on impact had bubbles of mad laughter escaping his lips.

"You were saying?" Ben mocked a hurting Charles. Rubbing his sore jaw, Charles glared at his brother.

"Join me, Charles. Together we would be unstoppable! We can rule the world, together, as brothers once more."

"I will never join you, or anyone else, who seeks to cause others harm!"

"And what of Magneto? If he had gone through with his plans would you have stood in his way?"

"I would have found a way," Charles replied, as he stole a glance in Erik's direction. "He is worth saving."

"Your love for him blinds you, brother. And it will be the cause of your downfall."

His hand had found its way around Charles' pale neck putting a decent amount of pressure upon his windpipe, causing his brother to wrap both of his hands to drag the offending limb away from his neck.

"If you will not join me, then I shall have to kill you - something I'd rather not do." Ben snarled, as his hand tightened its hold. "I want to help you reach your full potential, Charles."

"Will killing me bring you peace?" Charles wheezed out from between Ben's bruising fingers.

"We can always find out." Ben laughed maniacally.

Benjamin then pushed – well technically it was more of a forceful throw than a push – his brother away from him, causing Charles to land rather heavily against the corner of the coffee table. The corner jabbed into his side painfully, causing him to let out a brief cry of pain.

"Oops, sorry. Did that hurt?" Ben chuckled, as Charles glared at him.

Charles narrowed his eyes in anger, the kind of anger that he has never resorted to using. Tears trickled down from the corner of his eyes from frustration, pain and rage. He had loved his brother once - he still does.

The lights in the study began to flicker, as the weather outside continue to unleash its fury against the world. It must have been haunting enough to cause a few of the occupants within the room to cower a little.

Sparing another quick glance in Erik's direction and then Raven's, Charles turned back to hauntingly familiar eyes. Those of his father's.

"Our father did not raise you to become a killer!" Charles may not have had an inspiring bond with their father, but he is still quite certain of the man's character. "Imagine what he, or even mother, would say about what you've become. No matter what, we would have both let them down, I guess."

"One more question before I leave your sorry hide." Ben had to squish down the urge kick his brother in the ribs.

"Go on." Charles soon found his back leaning against one of Erik's legs, his hands unconsciously rubbing his throat and back.

"What is it about Erik Lehnsherr that you love so much? For all your pacifist ideals and talks of peace, you fall for the Nazi-hunter. A murderer! And what is worse, he is the cause of the injury which almost left you paralyzed!" Curiosity more than concern drove Ben to ask this question.

"Everything." Came Charles' short reply.

* * *

After Hank broke down Charles' study door, Raven was left speechless along with the rest of the occupants. She had been making her way down to see him and have a much needed discussion with him about everything that has been happening the past few months. She was loathe to admit that she had missed her irritatingly mild mannered brother. She feels terrible for ignoring Charles' early attempts to communicate with her - she didn't at first, but now Raven is racked with guilt. It was cruel of her to keep him out.

But as she was about to step off the last step to the floor that Charles' study was on, a strong shockwave of emotion blasted through the house. It was so strong that she almost dropped down to her knees from its intensity. After almost a minute of trying to catch her breath, Raven was able to regain some composure. At that point, she could hear the boys upstairs shouting and running to get to Charles. They had all felt her brother's projected emotions.

She was the closest so she immediately ran to the study, only to find it locked. The worst case scenarios ran through her head, causing her heart to beat even faster. Adrenaline fueled her muscles as she banged on the door to get a response. Hank skidded to a halt next to her with the rest of the mansion's occupants following close behind and with a quick look from Raven, Hank took a couple steps back and shoved his furry body into the door as hard as he could, splintering the ancient wood. Raven winced at that, but her brother's safety was more important. Another shove from Hank sent the door crashing in.

Expecting a mad telepath to be causing chaos in the room, Raven and the others were shocked at the scene they burst in on. Of all the things that she was expecting to see, Charles and Erik snuggling on the settee was definitely not one that they imagined. Immediate reactions were varied amongst the group. To many, the picture before them was not revolting. Rather, it was quite beautiful the way they both seemed so at peace with one another. The question that Raven had been bugging Erik about earlier has just been answered. Despite the shock and urgency of the situation, Raven found herself smiling at the scene.

She had always wanted Charles to find happiness... and it would seem that he has found it in Erik. If they make each other happy, then Raven won't stand in their way. That is if their stubbornness doesn't separate them. She would physically hurt Erik if Charles' heart gets broken.

The moment of quiet reflection is broken when Erik finally senses their presence and bolts up into a sitting position. "WHAT THE HELL?!" slightly slurred by his peaceful slumber.

Taking quick steps to check on her brother, Raven offers a quick explanation, "Charles is projecting. We need to wake him up!"

It has been years since Charles accidentally projected anything; The punishments he would usually receive from them were not pretty, especially since they came from Kurt.

"How do we wake him up?" Sean innocently asked out of concern for his mentor and friend.

"Yelling used to work for me." Raven replied with a shrug of her shoulders and a hand on Charles' knee. "It has been years since he has projected his feelings this badly."

"I didn't cause him to do this, did I?" Erik asked her, not caring if anyone heard the fear in his voice; he never did care what others, apart from Charles, thought about him.

"He did project when he was still in the hospital." Alex was determined to throw that little nugget of guilt at them.

"Sedatives are usually a telepath's worst enemy." Emma explained and, for once, she did not hold her usual tone of coldness and arrogance.

"Yes, I am aware of what sedatives can do."

Raven's mind immediately flashed back to Charles' stay in the hospital after being in the car crash that took their mother's life.

Charles had once told her that their mother had deliberately drove into that tree, not because she was drunk as a skunk, but because she just... had enough. He never told her why Sharon Xavier became a depressed alcoholic, or why she decided to commit suicide along with her youngest child on his 17th birthday. Thinking upon it now, maybe it was a combination of Kurt and the deaths of her husband and favored son.

This was neither the time, nor place, to dwell upon that black day as Charles is obviously experiencing an invisible pain. It was tearing Raven and Erik apart. Right now, no one knew what to do. Just another example of Charles being stubborn and difficult, once again.

* * *

"Everything," Charles says as if on a distant repeat.

"Everything? How can you love everything about him? He abandoned you to die!"

"As you had done as well! Where do you find the difference?" Charles adjusts himself into a better position upon the floor, boosting himself up with just his elbows for support and with his back still firmly leaning against Erik's leg. "True, he can be quite irritating on his best days, but I wouldn't want him any other way. I love him for who Erik is and there is nothing that you do or say that will stop me."

Ben's eyes narrowed in unconcealed envy, "I did abandon you to fend for yourself, I admit it. But if I had known that you were also a mutant, I would have taken you with me."

"And what of our mother? I, too, have thought about running away from home but I stayed! If I had ran, I would never had discovered Raven."

"Did she not abandon you, too?" Benjamin glanced briefly in Raven's direction. "There must be something about you that makes people want to leave you behind."

"What happened to you, Ben? What did Shaw do to you?" Charles' brows furrow in frustration.

"You know full well what he did to me!" Ben lunged forward, his hands latching onto the front of Charles' shirt. With little effort, he pulled his brother back onto his feet by force and thrust his face close to the younger man's in anger. "The same thing that he tried to do to Magneto."

"Violence isn't going to solve anything." Charles hissed as the shirt bit into his neck.

"You have one week!" Benjamin threw Charles back down onto the floor.

"One week or what? You'll dispose of me sooner or later, no matter what I decide. What I don't understand is why you would torment a member of your own family into submission? What have you become?!" Charles grit his teeth against the pain and anger. "But no matter... I will never join you!"

"Well then, I believe a visit is in order – I trust my bedroom is still in top condition and unoccupied?" Ben snarls mischievously at this new brilliant idea of his.

"Do you honestly believe that you can simply waltz in here to open arms after what you have done and what you plan to do? Everyone in the mansion, other than your spy, want your head on a silver platter. And sad to say, I may even be one of them!" Charles knows for a fact that Erik in particular, and his team, will not be stopped from wanting to strangle Ingham. "And you can save the effort of trying to control them... you can't access their minds."

"I will visit you in one week! I expect you'll reconsider my proposition upon my arrival."

With a click of his fingers, Benjamin vanished and Charles jolted awake from his position on the couch.

* * *

Awaking from a peaceful slumber in Charles' arms to a madhouse of emotions and chaos was not how Erik expected the day to turn out. Waking to the destruction of the study door, Erik was immediately hit with the projections of anger coming from the usually mild-mannered telepath next to him. With horror, Erik realized that Charles has not moved an inch since the commotion started. With shocked eyes, he watched Raven and Hank try to rouse the sleeping man. Erik's heart stopped beating when, after a couple slaps from Raven and Hank's attention to Charles' vital signs still didn't get the desired effect, he thought the telepath had slipped away from them for good.

Just as he was about to take matters, and Charles' body, into his own hands, Charles awoke violently; a strangled gasp, arms gripping the sides of the couch to pull himself up, Charles' face almost became friends with the wooden floor, if the three concerned people surrounding him hadn't had such quick reflexes and managed to catch him.

"Charles!" Raven had one hand running through sweat-slick locks of dark hair, while the other was running calming circle upon her brother's back. "It's alright now! You're OK! Breathe!"

Erik quietly let Raven take the reigns on comforting the young man. She did, after all, mention that she had witnessed this happening before. He was still curious about what Emma had meant about the sedatives, but that is a question saved for later.

"Let me go!" Charles said as he pulled himself out of their arms, standing up in an instant. Of all the reactions from Charles that they expected, anger was not one of them. Raven was pushed back by a furious hand. Hank was startled enough to back away an inch. Erik was left wide-eyed, staring at the younger man as he stalked over to the window to sulk, back turned towards the occupants of the room.

What is going on inside the telepath's magnificent mind? What is causing him to snap at everyone like that, as if they were the object of all that anger?

"Charles?" Erik slowly made his way to the fuming man.

"GO NOW AND LEAVE ME!" Charles snapped at them, head turned slightly to make sure the force carried through.

Shocked into silence, everyone (including Frost) froze. They had never heard Charles lose his temper before. With hurt clenching his heart at the sound of the emotions beneath the telepath's words, Erik spared a quick glance at an equally pained Raven. It would seem even Raven had never experienced this side of her brother before, either.

Whirling around to face the mutants-turned-statues inside the room, "Are you DEAF?! I told you to get out!"

Charles' normally warm blue eyes were as hard as sapphires, glistening with unshed tears.

"Fine!" And with that Charles stormed past the group and left the room, all eyes following him out the door.

The first one to break the silence with a meek voice was, amazingly, Alex. "What was that all about?"

"I have never seen Charles act like that before." Raven stated, more to herself than anything.

Saving his words for Charles' ears only, Erik went off in search of his favourite telepath – again. He better check his wardrobe first.


	13. Part 13: Chapter 12

**A/N: **I would very much like to say thank you to each and everyone of you for taking the time to not only to read, but to review, it truly made my days smile brighter then the sun. I am thanking my wonderful beta for her tremendous help on making this chapter readable and understandable. I honestly still do not know what I would do without her. I do hope that all will enjoy this chapter and I would very much like to hear your thoughts, particularly when I am letting you all know in advance that I am planning on bringing someone you all know in love into the story, and no it isn't Logan, though I would like to bring him in too, but no I am bringing in someone else, and I would like to know what you all think about it. Would anyone of you like to see Scott Summers? Let me know if you would like to see Scott? Have a wonderful day.

**Chapter 12:**

Heaving a heavy sigh, Charles' hands gripped the edges of the bathroom sink with a death grip. With head bowed, he took in deep breaths and studied his whitening knuckles to calm his racing heart and mind. The only sound to fill the room was the steady drip drip of the partially open faucet and his harsh breathing.

Looking up to the reflection in the mirror, he inspects the contents; Whose face is that staring back? It's like a complete stranger has taken on the form of Charles Xavier- a bad copy, at that. This is not the face of the mild-mannered pacifist. This is not the face of a man that is loved and respected by the majority of the people he meets.

No, this is the face of a man that just lost it in front of all his friends (some close to enemies, but right now they're on the right side) and proceeded to run out on them a second time. _They were only trying to help. Breathe! Breathe!_

It was only by a fraction of his self-control and a splash of water to his face that he was able to keep himself from slamming his fist into the mirror.

Unable to shield himself in such a stressed situation, Charles could feel the confusion and hurt from the incident permeating the house. It was understandable, seeing as how they just saw their mild tempered leader lose his cool and act WAY out of character. Lashing out like that was something nobody would ever believe he was capable of doing. Regret and shame filled the tiny professor and he hung his head in disgust of himself.

Why did he react that way? Because of Benjamin's rude intrusion and physical retaliation? His brother wanted him to become a member of his cause—to rule the world. _I guess Ben doesn't really like "NO" for an answer._ In retrospect, he thinks it's unlikely his outburst came as a result of Ben. After all, he has been through worse and still kept his calm.

Distracted,one hand released its death grip on the sink and found its way to his throat, massaging the phantom pain caused by Ben's bruising grip around his neck. Unwanted tears made its presence known, blurring his vision in a wall of water. His reflection swayed to the sides as the water built up in his eyes. Blinking only caused a trail of tears to make its way down his face. He gathered himself as best he could, he willed himself to stop the useless sobbing. _Crying will do no good right now. Why are you crying anyhow?! Calm your mind!_

Grabbing a towel and dabbing the moisture from his face, Charles perched atop the side of the tub. One hand kept himself from leaning too far back and falling flat on his butt in the tub, while the other ran over his face and hair in a sign of exasperation. Leaning forward to prop his elbows on his knees, he let the emotions of the occupants of the house soak into his skipped out on them twice in a row—and it wasn't even dusk yet. Today has not been his day at all.

It's quite amusing how bad luck tended to clump themselves together. Like the storm outside, when it rains, it pours; one day, Charles was well on his way to fulfilling his dream. He just got appointed a teaching position at Oxford and his sister was happy to stay by his side, supporting him. The next, he was asked to find mutants of his kind to raise up an army strong enough to take down a megalomaniac maniac. THEN, after taking down the psycho, he gets shot in the back while, simultaneously, getting figuratively stabbed in said back by his two best friends. The only reason why his two best friends even came back was because he just found out his, once believed to be dead, brother is very much alive and has turned into another megalomaniac! Heaving another sigh and a dark chuckle- _Fate...you truly do have a cruel sense of humour._

Breathing in and out, in and out helped. The cold of the room helped to anchor him to his own mind as the emotions from the others almost overwhelmed poor Charles. Doing a quick tab on each occupant to check how they were coping, Charles couldn't help but let out a quick chuckle when he stopped at Erik, who was looking in his wardrobe for the missing telepath.

_Nope, sorry Erik...Guess again._

Thinking about Erik brought him back to his confession to Benjamin. He truly did love everything about the metal-bender, despite their difference in opinions. But he would not want Erik any other way.

Eventually, Charles was able to reign in all his emotions and got up to leave the bathroom. With one hand, he pulled open the door and walked out with head still hanging down. Not a good idea. Raven had her hand on the doorknob right as it got pulled open and she stumbled forwards with the momentum, knocking into Charles in the doorway.

Immediately Charles reached out to grip his sister's arms to keep her from falling forwards. Chuckling, she released herself from her brother, "Nice to see you too!"

Smiling sheepishly, "Well next time, it would be polite of you to knock before entering someone's bathroom."

"Duly noted." Raven placed both hands upon her brother's shoulders. "Would you care to tell me what happened back there?"

Looking into her eyes and debating on what he should say, Charles could see the love and concern for him flickering within Raven's eyes. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to snap at you or the others. I know you were only trying to help me, but...but it just became too much for me to handle."

Relieved that Charles wasn't shutting her out, Raven gently steered the telepath towards the bed.

"What was?"

"Raven...I spoke to Benjamin." He sat down and his eyes found its way to the window before locking on to Raven's.

"You spoke to him? How?"

"Inside our minds. I do not know how he managed it, he must have found a way to dig through my shields."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to ask me if I would like to join his cause for global domination." _Jeez, Ben sounds like a comic book villain!_

Charles got up to his feet to spare a glance out of the window and watch the steady flow of the rain. For a second, there was silence before he turned his back on the storm and faced Raven.

His thoughts slipped away from him again as he gazed upon his sister. Raven truly is an exquisite creature. Of cause, he is saying that in a fond brotherly fashion. The promises they made to each other, the dreams they would talk about in the middle of a sleepless night huddled under a blanket fort- all of that shattered into a million pieces in a matter of days not long after Moira found him at the bar. Just like with Erik, Charles and Raven's family bond became nothing more than scattered fragments of what they used to be.

And now, they have been given a second chance to salvage their relationship. One that was hanging by a thin thread. But with how everything's been turning out lately, Charles feels as if everything and everybody will be lost no matter what he says or does.

"Raven… I'm sorry. About everything; about keeping you in the dark in regards to Benjamin. About not responding to your insecurities. I'm...I'm just sorry." For the first time in all the years he's known her, he has no idea what to say or how to act around his oldest friend. Conversation had always come easy between the two, but now it would seem that the simplest sentence could set off an argument.

"You only did what you believed to be right." She still wants to yell at him but knows that now is definitely not the time.

It was in the way that Charles' eyes watched her with a weary gaze. The slight red ring surrounding his eyes were the only indication of the emotional toll that he is experiencing. For as long as Raven could remember, her brother never shed a tear or showed any weakness in her presence. Even for his mother's death, he did not cry—then again, he was still recovering in the hospital during the funeral. The closest that she had come to seeing her brother cry had been on that god forsaken beach...a place that will forever be ingrained in their minds as the figurative fork in the road, stained by the blood of Charles Xavier.

Silence filled the room again, only to be broken by Erik's voice.

"I really wish you wouldn't keep running off like that."

"How else am I supposed to stay fit if I do not do any form of running?" Charles offered Erik a small smile in a way of an apology. Erik smirked at the cheekiness.

"I do apologise for my behaviour, though."

"I will accept your apology if you kindly explain what happened." Erik nodded his head in Raven's direction.

"Don't we all owe each other some kind of apology in some form?" Charles asked, as his face became completely unreadable.

Both Raven and Erik exchanged quick glance with each other before returning their full attention back to Charles.

"You said something about Benjamin speaking to you."

"You spoke to Benjamin?" Erik's eyes narrowed as he observed Charles.

Erik had to clamp down on the urge to grab Raven, throw her out, then gather Charles up in his arms and kiss him until that frown disappeared completely. Luckily, Erik has a lot of will power so he chose against this action, as it would have surely caused a lot of gossip amongst the occupants of the manor.

"Yes." Charles will let them in on what transpired, but he will definitely cut out certain parts that would infuriate the older man and shape-shifter. "He found a way to get past my shields – the way that we spoke felt so real, it was incredible!"

The brain truly is a remarkable place. He could feel Benjamin's hand on his throat as it slowly cut off his air supply. The feel of the fabric on Erik's leg when he leaned against it. The pain from jabbing his back on the corner of the coffee table. He had to fight down the academic in him from pulling up his shirt and seeing if there was a mark on his body. It would be amazing if the brain actually created a bruise as a reaction to the stimuli from the dream world.

"Charles, tell Erik about what he wanted you for." Raven prodded.

"He asked me to join him. It was why Benjamin wanted to speak to me."

"You're getting job offers left and right." Came Erik's cheeky reply. "I take it you told him 'No'?" Erik knows Charles well enough to know that he would never join any cause that would cause harm to others.

"That is correct." Charles stoically replied, his eyes locking momentarily with Erik's metallic grey eyes. "He did not like my answer – but...there was one more thing he wanted to tell me."

"What else did he want with you?" Erik had sensed early on that Charles was trying to hold something back, and that worried him more than the words that Charles was offering them.

Running through the thoughts in his head, Charles tried to find the best way to tell them. There were many things that Benjamin wanted, and one of them was to have Charles dead and buried.

Ben's jealousy and sordid past has driven him mad. Whatever is left of his brother has no qualms against murdering one's own family.

But can he let his friends know of this new situation? Would it hurt for them to know? Asking for help is not wrong, is it?

"He wants to kill me." Came his small shaky voice. There's no reason to keep them in the dark. He is, after all, talking to the two people who know him better than himself. They deserve to know the truth – and they would have probably discovered it themselves if he didn't tell them, anyways.

At the sound of the vulnerability in Charles' voice, Erik spoke up, his eyes never leaving Charles' tense body.

"Raven, could you give us a moment?"

All Erik and Raven wanted to do right now was hold the distraught telepath. But after learning of the blossoming relationship between the two, Raven knew that if any one could chase her brother's ghosts away, it would be the metal-bender (and vice versa).

Turning to the door, Raven couldn't help but utter a few words to Erik. "Hurt him and I will break you." She said it loud enough for Charles to hear as well. It held a deeper meaning; to show Charles that she understood what Erik and he has and that she supports them completely.

Charles' stifled giggle was the last thing she heard before the door shut behind her.

* * *

The moment the door clicked shut, Erik cross the room in two steps and pulled the telepath in for an urgent kiss. One hand immediately tangled itself within the telepath's thick locks, while the other found a place to rest upon the small of Charles back. It was a movement that was replicated by the telepath just as vigorously.

Taking in some air when they pulled apart, Charles could hear the faint sound of a door locking. With the end of the click, Erik immediately returned to the task of ravishing the younger man's lips, the kiss growing more desperate and needy as time went on.

Eventually the need to breathe caused them to pull away again.

"You went looking for me in your wardrobe, didn't you?" Charles smirked knowingly.

"Well I did find you in there the last time."

"You would have never found me if I had not sneezed." Charles dryly reminds Erik, body still pressed up against the older man.

Cheerfully robbing another one of the telepath's delightful kisses, "That may be true."

To keep the "heat" from increasing to a level that required clothing to be shed, Charles threw out something that had been bugging him since he was in the dream world with Ben.

"Erik, I am curious. When we were sleeping in the study, how did my projection and the noise not wake you sooner?" From what Charles could recall, the metal-bender did not wake up until Hank had busted down the study door.

"I truly do not know. I am usually much more alert to noises, especially when I am asleep because of the vulnerability. The closest reason I can think of is that was the most relaxed and content sleep I've had for a VERY long time. I am so sorry I was not able to help you through your ordeal with Ingham."

"Whether my projecting had woken you or not, you still would not have been able to help. I am not able to return unless Benjamin wants it to be so."

"How did you know that I had -"

"Because I saw what happened while Ben and I had our little chat." Charles replied before Erik could finish. "I could even touch you, but you, and Emma for that matter, could not sense me. The only thing that could affect you were the emotions that projected from me."

Erik's arms tightened a bit more around Charles, "Is Benjamin really that powerful?"

"He does have some amazing skills." Charles could not bring himself to pull himself away from Erik's embrace. He knows, only too well, how happiness can disappear at the blink of an eye, so he is determined to treasure each and every little nugget of happiness he is awarded.

"There are mutants out there that have similar powers and gifts, but not all of them are the same. One telepath's ability may differ from another even though they are all in the same category; such as Frost's powers and that of my own. The strength and range of the powers can also differ too."

"So there are a few things that Benjamin, or even Emma, can do that you can't?" Erik found himself regretfully pulling himself out of Charles' embrace so that he could observe the telepath's face better.

"In a way I guess you could say that...Emma has a secondary ability that Ben and I do not have. But in regards to my brother, I have not come in contact with him enough to know what he's capable of and his range."

As a child, Charles developed incredible abilities that he had to clamp down on because of the fear of discovery and punishment. As he got older, he never really got the chance to "spread his wings", as one would say. He is always aware of how powerful he really is, but it is not something that he likes to display or consider. "I have the same capabilities as Emma and Ben's telepathic abilities, but I choose not to use them so freely because of the dangers to the mind I touch. And from what I could gather, in the short amount of time I talked with Ben, I am able to understand that he does not feel empathy or compassion for others – he does not care for consequences or inflicting pain, as you and I would."

"What does that mean?" Erik frowned as his eyes tracked the movements of Charles as he gingerly bent his back to sit on the edge of the bed.

"It's difficult to explain, but I can show you."

"Show me?" Erik soon found himself sitting down at the telepath's left side, his hand automatically clasping Charles' left hand.

"What my telepathy is like." Charles wiggled his two fingers by his temple. "It is up to you, Erik. However, if you choose to do so, I must warn you that it will not be easy. Raven once experienced the sensation and it almost destroyed her."

"Now that I think about it, never once during the time we were all training our powers - never once did you fully explain to us about your own powers, Charles."

"That is because it is not easy to explain. Telepath is a general term that many can understand, and explaining all the ins and outs of my powers would have just caused more questions than answers. It would have probably taken a few hours for everyone to be satisfied." _So much for modesty._

At that, a comfortable silence settled in the bedroom as the two mutants sat side by side, content to revel in the quiet with their hands joined. Charles soon found himself staring out the window, taking notice that the rain had finally stopped.

"Today's events have been quite bizarre and unexpected."

"Bizarre and unexpected, yes. But I wouldn't change it for the world." Erik looked into Charles' eyes with a twinkle and smiled warmly. Leaning forward, Erik placed a gentle kiss onto Charles' forehead.

"Tonight."

"Tonight what?" Charles turned his head, finding his lips precariously close to Erik's.

"Show me what it is like." Erik's eyes are on Charles' lips but his mind is processing the idea of connecting with Charles on such a deeper level. Erik truly wants to know EVERYTHING about the man that he loves.

"Are you sure?" The idea of causing pain to Erik was not something Charles wants to do.

"I'm sure," Erik replied, his voice more than a whisper. Leaning down to Charles' neck, he began placing feather-like kisses along the left collarbone, kissing along until it got to the underside of Charles' jaw. When he got there, he stopped and breathed in Charles' scent. It was intoxicating, only serving to renew Erik's hunger for Charles' flesh. When Erik's lips went from his jaw, to his neck and then his ears, Charles let out a throaty moan that Erik could feel all the way down to his crotch. Fast as lightning, Erik's mouth claimed the telepath's in a fiery kiss.

Breaking the kiss with a satisfied squeak, Charles pressed his forehead against Erik's, gasping for air. As much as he enjoyed the sensations that Erik invoked with his touch, Charles knew he had to keep his head (and pants) on for the time being.

"Not until after dinner." Charles huskily said.

"Not until after dinner, for what?" Erik's voice came out just as huskily and sexy, according to Charles' ears.

"I think you know what I mean." Charles chuckled teasingly. "I am sure you are quite capable of waiting until then."

" Perhaps." Another series of kisses rained down onto Charles' neck.

When another moan vibrated through Charles' throat, he suddenly found himself lying under the magnokinetic's muscular frame and Erik's lips practically devouring the other man's. Dinner couldn't come any sooner.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	14. Part 14: Chapter 13

**A/N: **Here is another chapter for you all to devour. There is no Charles and Erik, but I am sure that you will like it all the same. Next chapter, however will feature Charles and Erik heavily. I look forward to hear what you think. I do hope that you will all have a wonderful day, or night.

**Chapter 13:**

Though some would describe her as a tart, an enemy, a threat, cold-hearted, and many other things that she would not wish to think of right now...Emma Frost knew that she was beyond those words. She was just a misunderstood woman that did not have the right role models to follow as a child.

As a sixteen-year-old girl discovering her mutant powers, frightened and alone, no one offered her any compassion or solace. After she met Shaw, she thought that she finally found somebody that would be able to take care of her, accept her for who she was, maybe even love her. But as time went on, she realized that Shaw only thought of her as one thing...a pet. A beautiful, mutant pet that he could strut around with and have her do his bidding. So she went along with him, tolerating his company, because she believed in what he was striving for. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes.

Early on, Emma, like many women blessed with a beautiful face, found the advantages of having such an attractive body. Manipulating people with her body language, fluttering eyelashes, and frosty personality was as much a defence mechanism as her telepathy. As a result, nobody ever tried to get to know her or get close enough to try and understand her.

Everyone believes that she does not care about anyone but herself. That her flippant and distant attitude towards everything and everyone was just her not caring about anyone but herself... that she has no heart. Partially correct; she's learned from her mistakes. If she doesn't care about anybody, then she can't get her feelings hurt and heart broken, now can she?

So, she is left alone... left alone to twiddle her pretty, well manicured thumbs. There she sits in the empty cell, lost in the fog of her own thoughts. They believe that her pretty little head is plotting something evil so nobody is to be in the cell with her. No objects, except the chair she is sitting on, are allowed in the cell. Legs crossed, she adopts her usual icy demeanour, waiting for her next meal. That is, until noise outside draws her attention.

Jumping out of her seat and shifting into diamond form, she prepares herself for an attack. When the door swings open and Magneto walks in, helmet on his head, she arches one beautifully sculpted eyebrow.

_Fate has a cruel sense of humour._

And now, here she sits, in her appointed room at the Xavier mansion. Sitting at the edge of the spacious bed and filing her nails, her thoughts continue to run rampant. Who knew, that in a matter of months, Emma would be staying at the Xavier mansion as a guest of her supposed enemy and the most powerful telepath she has ever met?

She is grateful for Magneto's assistance in her release from the CIA, but she is no fool. She knows that she was only chosen as a temporary replacement for the hole in his heart left by Charles Xavier. Sighing to herself, she muses on how her life has gone from one person using her for her body and talent to another person using her for his own emotional connection to another person. Would no one actually want Emma for herself?

Her thoughts started to turn to the host of the mansion – the young, overly enthusiastic, naïve professor that everyone adores. Why did she bring up Ingham at the breakfast table? Was it because she's jealous of Xavier's much more considerable skill in telepathy? Was it a show of power so that everyone could know that she still has some? She has never met another telepath, other than Ingham, who makes her own skills seem so meek and useless.

Getting up in one graceful motion, she walked over to her vanity and stowed away her nail file. Sitting down on the chair provided for her, she stares into the mirror at her reflection to look for any imperfections to her physical facade. A lonely, misunderstood young woman stared back at her with perfect features. Most men would kill to ask for her hand, but she finds herself alone and unwanted. As a child, she dreamed of a knight in shining white armour that would come and whisk her away. With a big, beautiful wedding inside a giant castle, she would live happily ever after with her true love. But those dreams shattered a long time ago.

She has only seen love at its purest one time. Of all the people she's encountered, she would have never guessed that it would be between Charles Xavier and the, ever brooding, Erik Lehnsherr. She believed that their feelings for each other transcended all obstacles, but she was proven wrong when the two lovebirds flew away in opposite directions in Cuba. So she shrugged her shoulders and went with the flow. It was not her problem. It was not her heart on the line. If Magneto wants to live his life alone, so be it.

Then, she is proven wrong, YET AGAIN! If Love were a mutant, it would be the most powerful thing in the universe. Because of this chemical reaction in Magneto's, not so cold, heart, he goes running back to his young telepath. Dropping all of his own goals and dreams, Magneto is willing to set aside his own ambitions for love. Till the day she dies, Emma will never admit that she admired the love Erik has for Charles Xavier.

But she fears that this love may not be enough for the latest obstacle thrown in Xavier's way.

Underneath Charles' mild mannered, charmingly arrogant, wonderfully kind exterior is a darkness that is growing more and more each minute. Emma first noticed it when he lashed out at his own friends in an example of his loss of control. Whatever the darkness is, she can sense it rearing its ugly head, most likely in response to Ingham's sudden appearance in Xavier's life.

Its powers are extraordinary! It can rival Ingham, Magneto and any other enemy it may encounter, for that matter.

Heaving a sigh, she rubs a graceful finger at her temple to relieve the headache brought on by these thoughts. She can only hope that her assumptions are wrong. From now on, she will have to keep a closer eye on Xavier. But for what? Is it because she's worried about the affect it will have on Magneto, therefore on the cause that they are striving for? Why this sudden need to concern herself with the other telepath's well being? These feelings are strange and foreign, only there to annoy her further.

Getting up from the vanity and walking towards the door, Emma pushes away her thoughts as she leisurely strolled around Xavier's impressive mansion.

* * *

"What are you working on?"

Hank's furry body tensed from where it was bent over a microscope. _Oh please, not now._

After the shock from Charles' outburst had dissipated, Hank dove back into his work; a frequently used outlet for Hank's stress. It was either bury his emotions in his work or pull his hair... or fur in his case... out. When he was going back to his lab, the thought that kept crossing his mind was how much of a trouble magnet the Professor seemed to be. It seems like, every few months, there's someone out there wanting to cause Charles' harm in one way or another.

So he shook his head, put on his lab coat and studied another slide under his microscope, hoping to go into his private little world for a few hours. But the solace has now been broken.

Without even turning around, Hank could already tell whose voice that belonged to. One of the reasons why Hank didn't agree with Charles about offering the Brotherhood sanctuary was because of the very person standing in the lab with him right now. She was definitely the last person he wanted to see right now.

"What do you want, Raven?" Hank asked the exquisite beauty as he shifted to another part of the lab.

"I just wanted to say hi." Raven offered awkwardly, shifting her feet while staring at Hank's furry back.

Will speaking to Hank be just as difficult as speaking to Charles? If she can't even talk to her brother comfortably, what would she do about Hank? She still believes that she made the right decision, leaving with Erik, but she wonders to herself whether it was worth it after seeing all the ruined relationships it caused. All she can do now is hope that her relationship with Charles and Hank haven't been destroyed beyond repair.

"Look, Hank. I know you must hate me for leaving you guys. You have every right to be mad." Small words compared to the big chasm separating them.

She glanced around the lab, admiring the irony. The lab will look the same but her place in it will never be the same. She may never feel like she did 5 months ago.

The air soon grew thick with silence and tension, with the only sound corrupting the quiet being Hank tinkering away at an object that could very well be the beginning of Cerebro. It resembled the original Cerebro's helmet, but a much more efficient version without the tubes and wires sticking out everywhere.

Raven took Hank's silence with a heavy heart, so she turned around to make an exit and save what dignity she has left. But after taking one step, Raven paused to look back at Hank once more.

"Hank, I am already losing Charles… I don't want to lose you as well." Raven said as tears began to glisten behind her amber-eyes.

But Hank remained stubbornly silent, his eyes focused solely on the task at hand. He is aware that he is being quite rude by ignoring Raven, but he just could not bring himself to look at her or speak.

He has always felt confused and conflicted when he was around Raven, but now that awkwardness was stifling.

After another moment of silence, Hank risked a glance to the doorway. He was alone in the lab once more. Does he feel guilty? Maybe. What feelings does he have now, for Raven? Romance? Broken friendship? He has no idea.

Sighing to himself, Hank returned to his work.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	15. Part 15: Chapter 14

**A/N: **I would like to say thank you to my dearest beta for her humble services to make this chapter readable. I honestly do not know what my story would have turn out to be if it weren't for her. She is a champion. I do hope to hear what you think. Enjoy the rest of your day. It is going to be really hot again today and my cat just did a fart, how nice of her.

**Chapter 14:**

Erik woke up to find a very naked Charles snuggling up against him; an experience the metal bender never thought possible, despite his hopes and dreams. Then again, whenever he is around Charles Xavier, surprises are never in short supply for Erik.

With a content sigh, he gazed up at the ceiling with a smile on his face. Replaying the images in his head, Erik almost pinched himself to make sure everything was real and that he wouldn't blink and wake up to find that the past couple days have been all a dream. Just the idea, of waking up in his empty bed back in the old hideout with Charles held at arm's length because he was the "enemy", made Erik's hold on Charles tighten to an almost bruising grip.

Shaking his head from those depressing thoughts, Erik looked down at the sleeping telepath's face. Immediately, the darkness in his thoughts were pushed away just by the sight of the adorable brunette. What they experienced was so surreal...so sensual, it was beyond the boundaries of just sex – it was love-making in its truest form.

For the thousandth time, Erik is amazed by the urge to be so close to Charles; to hold him, to touch his lovely brown hair, to breathe in the scent of the younger man.

The metal bender is no stranger to the act of sex. In the past, he would seek release through a woman he picked up, making sure to sneak out in the middle of the night. Sometimes even right after the deed was done. These visits were not for the pleasure of their company or to lessen the feelings of loneliness, it was just to relieve the overwhelming natural need to reproduce that would drive Erik to the bed of a willing person.

Tearing his eyes away from the lovely mop of brown hair tickling his chin, Erik could feel his arm getting numb from the weight lying on top of it. But that was an infinitesimally small price to pay for the chance to have the telepath snuggled up against him. The warmth of the two bodies drifting from one body only to be absorbed by the other.

Whatever may come in the future, they'll deal with it then. Right now, in this room, it's just the two of them: Erik and Charles. No arguments, no crazy brother trying to take over the world, no persecution, no chance of separation.

_This is the second time I've fallen asleep without knowing it. This is getting to be a good and bad habit, Erik Lehnsherr, you better be more alert next time! _Mentally chastising himself for relaxing so easily, Erik furrowed his brows. It was a credit to the calming and disarming personality of Charles' company that Erik, the Nazi Hunter, was able to feel so safe and comfortable that he didn't even remember falling asleep. Last thing he remembered was smiling fondly at the sight of Charles' magnificent blue eyes as they started to droop and flutter to a close.

No one would begrudge the telepath some rehabilitation time, least of all the person who loves him more than life itself. The emotional roller-coaster that Charles has been on all day would drain any one, so let him sleep... let his tired mind pick up the shattered fragments and find its way back to the center between rage and serenity.

If Erik could take away all the pain and turmoil that would cause the hint of a frown on the younger man's brows, Erik would gladly suffer it for him one thousand times over. But he can't, so he'll settle for being the emotional and physical support for Charles in this time of crisis.

Gently rubbing small circles on the telepath's bare back, Erik's thoughts turned to the issue at hand. The idea of anything happening to Charles made his blood boil._ You are not alone, my love. I would never let anything happen to you! I would kill Ingham before he even got close to you! I'd rip his heart out if he so much as says one bad thing about you._

"I believe we have slept through dinner." Came Charles' drowsy, croaky voice, effectively snatching Erik back from the dark thoughts he found himself in.

"Yes, I believe we have." Erik's hand ran a soothing hand down the bare back of Charles' body. He need not worry about waking the telepath anymore, so why not take advantage of the other man's naked skin?

His hand paused when his fingers skittered across a puckered scar. Erik's smile immediately disappeared as guilt and regret tore at his heart.

"Did it hurt?" Somehow, Charles can tell that the question wasn't just about the lovemaking.

"No, you didn't hurt me. I would have had us stop, if you did." Choosing to ignore the double meaning, Charles propped himself on one hand to relieve some of the pressure on Erik's poor arm.

With his right hand still on Charles' scar, Erik raised his left hand to cup the back of the telepath's neck in order to bring the latter's lips closer to his own. The need to devour Charles' mouth was overwhelming.

Charles' hand found its way to the back of Erik's head while the other found a spot on the metal bender's chest. In the silence, Charles could sense the minds of the other mutants as the rest of the household prepared for bed. Despite the obvious absence of the two and the increased tension that goes along with the absence, not one person chose to disrupt the privacy of their leaders.

It is very comforting to know that no one (Other than Adam, that is... but he's a different story.) has any objections to the men's budding relationship.

"Someone is hungry." Charles laughed into the kiss as he felt, more than heard, Erik's stomach grumbling with the need for food.

Erik chuckled as he briefly hears the telepath's stomach speaking as well, "I am not the only one, it would seem."

"Well, we did manage to skip lunch AND dinner."

"I would say the fault is on the two of us."

"They've left a meal for us in the ice box. They weren't brave enough to disturb us." A mischievous grin spread on Charles' face, making his blue eyes twinkle even more.

"Do they know about us?" Erik's smirk morphed into a frown at the thought of their reactions.

"They know. They figured it out during the incident in the study. It's quite hard not to come to that conclusion when they saw the two of us cuddling on the settee."

"We were going to tell them about us tonight, so I guess it makes no difference."

"Yes, it would seem the opportunity has been taken out of our hands."

Sighing, Charles' thoughts turned to the cloud that's been lingering over his head. Erik is, and always will be, a weakness to him. Benjamin could very well be plotting their downfall, at this very moment. With the knowledge that the metal bender holds a special place in Charles' heart, Ben may be planning on turning the two lovers on each other. With time, he may even be able to break through the mental barrier Charles placed around the minds of the mansion's occupants.

"Erik, Benjamin is planning on coming here by the end of the week."

Erik's eyes went wide, the peace and relaxed atmosphere immediately dissipated with those words. "WHAT?! When were you planning on telling me this?"

"I do apologize, my friend, it slipped my mind. The shock of Ben's plans to kill me and taking over the world took precedence."

"Your brother will have to get through to me first!" Erik promised between clenched teeth.

"I do not want to him dead, Erik." Charles placed a comforting hand on the man's cheek.

Erik instinctively leaned into the touch, suddenly quite aware of their close proximity and nakedness. Certain parts of Erik's body started twitching as his thoughts turned to ravishing the mind reader once more.

Amazing how a simple touch could dispel the differences that almost reared its ugly head if the conversation were to go on.

"He wants you dead, Charles. There may not be any other way to deal with him." If it came down to Ben's life or Charles', well let's just say, it's not much of a choice for Erik and the X-men.

"Killing is not the only solution. There is always another way."

"You can't save everyone, Charles." It was nothing more than a whisper as he pressed his forehead to his lover's, breathing in Charles' intoxicating scent.

"I am well aware of that, my friend, but that doesn't mean I can't try." Charles' voice matching Erik's in a whisper. "He's my brother…"

"Your brother, Ingham may be, but that still doesn't change the fact that he wants you dead."

Charles sighed as the softness of his pillow offered his head comfort, his physical connection with Erik broken as he turned his body and eyes to focus on the ceiling. How often must their ideologies come between them?

Ben would find every single one of his weaknesses and use them against him; Raven, Erik, his pacifist ideals, etc...It would only be sooner or later that Ben would force his hand, and what then?

"What are you thinking about?"

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Charles blinked and looked to the side only to find Erik's lips hovering dangerously close to his own. Another inch and they would be kissing again – which wouldn't be something that either of them would complain about.

"You realise we have spoiled our own after dinner plans." A smirk followed the statement.

"Yes I've noticed that myself." Erik's eyes sparkled with mirth. "Why? Do you regret it?" Another double meaning to the question.

With a wry smile toying with the corner of his lips, Charles replied, "I do not regret anything."

Their lips met instantaneously, neither of them knowing who initiated the kiss first. Adjusting his body, Erik slowly moved on top of the telepath's smaller body. A moan escaped Erik's mouth as the sensation of having the younger man under him coursed through his veins. Lowering his hips to lie between his lover's thighs, Erik mused that the pleasure he was experiencing was much much stronger than the one night stands he used to have.

"I do not regret anything either...even though we missed lunch and dinner." Erik's voice came out huskily when they finally parted for air.

"Don't forget afternoon tea." Charles smirked up at Erik, both of his hands on the metal bender's sculpted back.

"No, we can't forget about afternoon tea, either." Erik smirked happily. Mentally, he was photographing this image into his brain. If he could stop time, he would because he never wanted this moment to end.

Charles tilted his head up for another kiss. The differences between them forgotten as they proclaimed their love through their bodies, once again.

* * *

It was past midnight when Charles opened his eyes once again. Sated and happy, Charles couldn't help the small smile that found residence on his face.

Turning his head to the side, Charles' smile grew wider as he realised that their positions, when they woke the first time, have been inverted: Erik was now the one sleeping soundly on Charles' numb arm, using his shoulder as a pillow. Brushing a small strand of hair away from the sleeping man's forehead, Charles gazed upon the man's features. Erik looks a lot younger when he is completely relaxed. The sadness and weariness from the man's past don't haunt him when he is in Charles' pleasant company. His presence is all that is needed to smooth out the taut lines on the older man's face.

Taking the time to savor the image, Charles smile slowly faded as he realises that there may not be much time left for either of them. Who knows what Ben, or life itself, has in store for them. His mind is shouting at him to sacrifice himself to Benjamin in hopes of saving the lives of those he loves, but his heart is telling him to not give in to the demands of a psychopath, brother or not. He has already spent five miserable months separated from Erik and Raven because he thought it was what they wanted. He deserves to be selfish for once!

"Can't sleep?" A drowsy voice magnetically seeped through Charles' thoughts.

"No. Then again, I've always experienced mild cases of insomnia since my telepathy made itself known as a child."

"I don't need telepathy to know that's not what's keeping you up right now."

"You would make an exemplary telepath, my friend!" Charles' eyes crinkled as he smiled. Erik moved off the smaller man to get the blood flowing back into the numb limb. Immediately missing the warmth that Charles' body provided, Erik settled for rubbing circles on to the telepath's numb hand. Such a simple touch, but one that conveyed so much more than words ever could.

A sudden childish thought about pulling the spreadsheet over their heads almost had Charles bursting into giggles.

Erik placed a chaste kiss on the other man's lips before pulling back. He is fully aware of Charles' attempt at deflecting worry away from him. "You're not going to tell me what is bothering you, are you?"

"I do want to tell you, Erik, believe me when I say that to be true. I just... do not want to trouble you with my problems." Charles has always found it difficult to show any signs of weaknesses. As the unshakeable pillar of strength for Raven for so many years, and now for the team of mutants he has found himself responsible for, he could not afford to show any cracks or strain in his facade.

Observing the baby-blue eyed telepath for a moment, Erik wracked his brain to figure out what to say to the man he loves without sounding patronizing and hypocritical. No matter how many times they say they love and trusted each other, one of them will always find a way to contradict it.

"How about we try to get some sleep? We'll worry about everything else in the morning."

"You will be here when I wake up, won't you?" It was Charles' turn for the double edged question. The insecurity in his voice was not easy to hide.

"Of course, Charles." An answer for both questions.

"I love you." Charles' eyelids fluttered as a small smile graced his lips.

"I love you, too." Erik whispered sincerely.

Erik opened up his arms as a welcome and Charles took the invitation immediately, placing his head onto the other man's shoulders and snuggled into the warm cavity.

Using the lullaby of Erik's heart to softly sing him to sleep, feeling safe and secure, Charles closed his eyes and drifted off to the land of dreams.

Sighing contently, Erik soon followed suit. In his mind, a small whisper tells him he has finally found a place to call home. Home is where the heart is, and his heart will always be with Charles.

* * *

_To Be Continued…_


	16. Part 16: Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

As the comforting heaviness of sleep started to relinquish its hold on the young telepath, the pain of the previous day's encounter with Benjamin started to overwhelm Charles' senses. His back and his throat were on fire. His head felt like there was a hot air balloon in the process of being inflated inside his skull. Groaning, he burrowed his face into the cool softness of his pillow, seeking a balm for the pressure behind his eyes. His thoughts are jumbling up from the pain, and he fears that, if the pain goes on, the tender grip on sanity he was able to salvage will be lost...pulled away from him by the actions of his brother.

"Charles?" A soothing voice pulled Charles' from the dark thoughts his musings have turned to. _If Ben can cause me physical harm by a few pushes and shoves in the dream-world, would my physical body react accordingly if he kills me there?_

"Charles?" That magnetic voice again.

Groaning once more, Charles rolled onto his back to try and relieve some of the phantom pain.

A slight chuckle to his left sends a small puff of air to tickle Charles' cheek.

"I know that you can hear me, Charles." With his eyes closed, the voice is right next to his ear. He can feel the heat coming off of Erik as he slowly places feather-light kisses onto Charles' exposed collarbone, effectively soothing Charles' headache more than any heating pad could ever hope to achieve.

"Only because you are speaking." Charles smiles and opens his eyes. Immediately, Erik's eyes are gazing down upon him, filled with so many indescribable emotions. But one stand out more than the rest: LOVE.

If, a year ago, Erik was told that he would be able to wake up in bed with the love of his life, kissing and joking with each other like any normal couple, he would have immediately called for a strait jacket, for that man must surely be insane. But here they were, less than a year later. Not only has his life-long goal of killing Shaw been achieved, Erik's anger and focus has now been funnelled into a new emotion and new causes: Love Charles to the best of his ability and do his best to stay with the incorrigible man while striving for the acceptance of mutant kind. Snorting to himself at the incredulity of it all, Erik brought his attention back to the blue-eyed telepath lying next to him in bed.

"Morning."

"Afternoon, to be exact. You slept through the morning," Erik said, face completely serious and eyes dancing with mischief.

"Nice try." Charles dryly quips with a smirk to match. "Next time, try using that trick on someone who can't read minds."

"I will take that advice under much consideration." Erik smirked as he lowered his lips to lightly brush a kiss onto the other man's lips.

What a breathtaking way to start the morning.

* * *

If someone were to ask Adam when it was, exactly, he lost faith in humanity; he would not be able to give an answer. Ever since Adam could remember, he has been subjected to the cruelties of human nature. He was no stranger to death and destruction, much like Erik's life. His childhood was far from normal, only worsening when his mutation developed. His baby sister, Charlotte, was taken from the world at an extremely young age, as were the lives of his parents. So much death has hardened Adam's heart to the point where not even a tank can blast through the barrier.

His memories are drenched with blood. At the tender age of 7, Adam was already witness to the cruelties of human nature's need for warfare: clouds of flying machines, with metal rain drops that would explode upon impact, flew through Pearl Harbor raining down destruction and chaos. If he closed his eyes, he can still smell the burning flesh as oil melted the skin of the sailors. He can still hear the screams of the wounded and the yelling of the nurses as they requested more morphine, only to stop their cries short when they are told that the painkiller has been used up.

And after the day, which will forever live in infamy, was over, Adam watched as neighbour turned on neighbour and friend turned on friend. The Japanese were rounded up, much like the Jews and homosexuals in Nazi-occupied Europe. Innocent men, women and children were deemed dangerous and taken away from their homes because of the colour of their skin and ethnicity. So what of humanity is worthy of salvation?

This question burned its way through Adam's psyche as he spent the rest of his childhood in a cold orphanage. The nuns were more like prison wardens than caretakers, constantly berating them for being sinful if he so much as looked at somebody wrong. For as long as he could, Adam held onto the quickly vanishing feelings of love he felt for his family. But, a quiet rage simmered beneath the arrogant and aloof exterior Adam kept on. Like a poison, it slowly ate its way through his soul until all that was left was fire and rubble, much like the destroyed ships in Pearl Harbor.

The fire died a little when he crossed paths with a young man in a wheel chair. He would never forget the day he saw the man with incredibly blue eyes watching him with empathy and understanding. Nor would he forget the day that Charles Xavier welcomed him into his home. That day should have been the happiest day of Adam's life, and Adam was happy...but that slowly faded.

Suddenly a new type of anger began to fester.

Everything was fine and dandy when he first arrived. He had just found a group of people who were "different" like him. He was not alone anymore! But the X-Men never considered him one of them. Oh, they treated him nicely enough but Adam could tell that, after a while, the kindness was forced as a way to appease Charles Xavier's demand for the others to treat him well. Not settling for being second best to anyone, Adam shoved his way into Xavier's time and attention whenever he could get it. Needless to say, these stole time away from the Professor's healing and focus on his school and X-men, but Adam couldn't care about this. Xavier was always glad to help, anyways.

But the three other students proved to be loyal to a fault, immensely unshaken in their faith and trust in a man that could invade their minds on a whim. They rallied around their ailing leader and alienated Adam as a form of rebellion against his selfishness when their warnings for him to stop went unheeded.

After a while, the darkness produced a spark that added more ammunition to the flame already burning inside him. Whatever little piece of Adam's soul that was saved by the kindness of Xavier was burned away, and his fraying sanity channelled all the anger towards one enemy: Charles Xavier.

He hates him now, just for the fact that he exists. Everything about him is the complete opposite of Adam; where he is selfish and arrogant, Xavier is kind and selfless. To Adam, humanity is beyond salvation, but Xavier thinks that they're worthy of a second chance... a third... a fourth, until they get it right. What is it that Xavier sees that others do not?

In Adam's eyes, Pearl Harbor was the prime example of the monstrosity that is humankind. But to Charles, he would say it was a day where kindness, compassion, and bravery of men overshadowed the destruction. A tear would come to his eye as he spoke of the nurses that held the hands of the dying sailors, just so they would not take their last breaths alone. Pride shown in his blue eyes as he spoke of the enemy Japanese pilot that was seen by children on a hill, as the kamikaze planes flew towards the ships, waving desperately for them to run away from the impending chaos he knew he would be causing them.

Adam would sit there listening to the Professor, nod and then thank him for his time before walking out. If Xavier sensed the disbelief in Adam as he walked away, Charles never said a thing.

The outlet for his anger came in the form of Benjamin Ingham. Being the powerful telepath and dark soul that he is, Ingham immediately picked up on the thoughts of a fellow anger-fuelled mutant. Enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes. Adam immediately agreed to take up the role of spy for Ingham... only a fool would willingly stand on the losing side.

Shaking his head, Adam lazily stared a hole through his bedroom wall. How much longer must he wait? The simple goal of bringing down the mighty Charles Xavier is proving to be more difficult than first expected. Ingham is powerful, but so is Charles. Magneto and his Brotherhood will be another problem that must be dealt with as well, or the plan that Ingham has decided upon will not succeed.

An extremely small part of Adam's heart twisted as he thought of betraying the man that has shown him nothing but kindness... but that was easily squashed down.

* * *

With great willpower and reluctance, Erik pulled himself away from Charles' gorgeous lips. _Damn our body's need for air! We need to work on our breathing skills so that we can make out for a longer period of time._

Erik's thought earned a chuckle from the brunette. Finally able to break apart for air, Erik took the moment to absorb in Charles' appearance in the morning. The sunlight from the nearby window streamed in to blanket Charles like a second skin. At that angle, Erik was immediately hypnotized by the beauty that is Charles Xavier. The sun only served to make the impossibly blue eyes become clear blue like the sky, the already lush red lips pulled into a small smile contrasted beautifully with the blue, and the brown hair, ruffled from sleep, had traces of red that complimented the red lips.

In awe at the picturesque image before him, Erik could only gape, with mouth slightly open, at Charles as the younger man's mouth turned upwards into a full smile as he caught the feelings coming from Erik through their link.

Loathe to break the moment and feelings of love emanating from Erik; Charles raised a hand to Erik's cheek to bring his thoughts back down to Earth. As if breaking out of a trance, Erik shook his head slightly to focus and instinctively leaned into the touch. Casting his eyes away from the beautiful man in front of him, Erik's gaze locked onto the lower half of Charles' blanket covered body. An image from a dream he had flashed into his mind. He had dreamed of Charles, he knows that for sure. He doesn't know what the dream was about but he can see one scene very clearly in his head. They were in the snow, and in front of him was Charles. The top half was Charles' body, no doubt about that; same brown hair, same blue eyes, and red lips and bare chested. But the bottom half was not a man's body! It was as if Charles' lower half was replaced with a goat's body. And in the Charles' hand was a little wind instrument.

Now that he has the chance to analyse it, Erik finally understood what Charles was... A FAUN!

_Why would I be dreaming of Charles as a Roman mythological character? _

"What are you laughing about?"

The image from Erik's dream was so ridiculous, yet adorable, that he didn't even notice he had chuckled out loud. Automatically, the denial came out before he could rethink lying to a telepath, "Nothing."

"Nothing? Are you SURE?" Charles' eyebrow quirked upwards as he rolled in closer to Erik's side. A slight whimper almost made itself known as his stiff muscles protested the movement.

"I'm sure." The humour was gone from Erik's face. The pained wince on Charles' face when he turned was not lost on Erik.

With a mischievous smile and twinkle in his eyes, Charles went in for the kill. "So my having a pair of shaggy goat legs had nothing to do with it?"

"I never said they were shag - " Stopping in the middle of his sentence, Erik's face coloured red a bit as he realized he had just been caught.

The delighted laughter flowing from Charles' lips dragged Erik's attention back to that part of Charles' body again. The desire to ravish those lips until the end of time was quite strong, but he held it back quite impressively.

"Oh, I am sure you have had strange dreams involving me in the past, right?" Erik leaned forward, his lips practically aching to start devouring his lover's mouth once more.

"I'm sure that I have – but none of them featuring you with legs from some kind of farm animal." Charles quipped with a smirk as he caught a glimpse of what Erik's intentions are for his mouth.

"Would you care to tell me one of those dreams?" Erik asked, voice husky and heavy with lust. His eyes were fixated on the red lips in front of him.

Pulling a bit back to think a little bit, Charles pursed his lips as he pondered whether or not it would be wise to tell Erik what his dream consisted of.

"Well, there was one where you were…" A giggle came out to interrupt his sentence.

"Where I was what?" Erik prompted with a smirk.

"Whereyouwerewearingapinkdress..." Charles blurted in one sentence, cheeks tainted pink with a blush.

"Excuse me? If you would please enunciate each word so that I can understand what your, oh so crazy, dream about me is?" An eyebrow quirked up and a serious expression on his face, Erik made sure to keep up the air of playful seriousness.

"OK, but REMEMBER that YOU asked for it! One time I had a dream that you were in a pink dress with white frills." Unable to hold it back anymore, Charles' smile was so bright it almost blinded Erik.

The playful predatory glare in answer to Charles' dream caused the telepath to freeze like a deer caught in the headlights. "Oh, did you now?!" Acting like the panther he always resembled, Erik hunched down a little, ready to pounce on his giggling prey.

Catching his intentions and knowing full well his back would not appreciate the jostling from a tickle fight, Charles held up his hand to ward off Erik's attack. "REMEMBER! You asked!"

Laughing, Erik settled for pressing a chaste kiss onto Charles' lips, "Yes I did... I do believe it is time for us to get some breakfast into our stomachs." The older man rolled off the bed and proceeded to stretch his stiff muscles.

"Indeed!" Charles made to get off the bed but the pain in his back stopped him in his tracks. His headache was gone, which is good but his back pain, as always, remained.

"Everything all right?" Catching the pained expression on Charles' face again, the playful atmosphere disappeared immediately.

"Nothing that I can't handle. The pain in my back has been there since I regained use of my legs."

"Is there nothing that can help you?"

"Hank has kindly offered to find something that can help, but I declined the offer." Charles replied nonchalantly, gingerly making his way to the wardrobe.

"Why did you refuse Hank's offer? It is quite clear you are in pain." Picking up his clothes from the floor, Erik dressed in more of a rush than is required. He will have to sneak in to his bedroom to have a shower and put on fresh clothing.

When silence answered his question, a thought popped into his head. "Charles, were you in pain when we made love yesterday?"

When Charles chose to ignore that question as well, the silence answered Erik's last question.

Taking a few steps to close the distance between them, Erik placed both hands on Charles' face so he could look into those beautiful blue eyes. "Why didn't you say anything? When I asked you last night, you told me that I did not hurt you. Did you lie to me?"

"No, not all of it… I just did not want to spoil our first time together -"

"Our first time would have been all the more perfect if you were in perfect health, Charles. I would wait until the end of time for you to be in tip-top shape."

"Yeah and whose fault is it I'm in this condition?!" Instantaneously, Charles regretted the words that came out. _What? Where did that come from?_

Erik immediately recoiled, hands dropping to his sides as if he'd been slapped. Shock turning to anger and guilt, Erik stepped back a bit as he tried to process the quick change in Charles' mood.

"Erik, I'm sorry. I did not mean - "

"Whether you had meant it or not, you still said it, Charles." Erik crossed his arms, pride making him refuse to meet Charles' apologetic gaze. "Perhaps we are taking this relationship of ours a little too fast."

"Fast or slow, it still wouldn't change how I feel about you." Suddenly self-conscious of his nakedness, Charles hugged the clothes he grabbed close to his body, looking more like a lost child than an adult.

"Nor mine for you, but it is obvious that the issues between us are deeper than we thought. I know you have not forgiven me for what happened in Cuba."

"We were both at fault that day. It was the wrong thing for me to say about those men following orders, but I cannot apologize for saying it." _Oh how did this morning suddenly turn into something like this? _"I'm going to take a shower." Charles said in a small voice, the need for some privacy was overwhelming.

Turning to the bathroom door, Charles sent a mental nudge to Erik as the metal bender left. _'I love you.'_

Erik did not reply back.

* * *

_To be continued…._


End file.
